Brendan Allen on Dricus du Plessis fight: "Yeah, if he drops his nuts"

Allen, who is out for the rest of the year, also backed Sean Strickland's pay fight and said fighters are underpaid, but added: "I like my paycheck."

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Sun 11 Oct, 05:54 UK · Updated Sun 11 Oct, 08:19 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Brendan Allen speaks at the UFC Vegas 122 post-fight press conference — Image: UFC

Brendan Allen says Dricus du Plessis is still his target "if he drops his nuts", after he submitted Britain's Christian Leroy Duncan in the fifth round of the UFC Vegas 122 main event.

Asked at the post-fight press conference whether Du Plessis was still the target for his next fight, Allen said: "Yeah, if he drops his nuts. Like, it's just all talk from his side all the time. And I've been waiting to sign the contract."

He explained: "But he's the only one, like, that makes sense, number one. And two, we've had our differences. And three, we've supposed to have been agreed to fight before. So it's not like it's unreasonable." He added: "But I'm not chasing that motherf***er. If he wants to fight, then fight. If not, we'll figure something else out."

Allen won't fight again this year. "They said I think I got a mandatory 30 days, but I don't give a f***. I'm not fighting the rest of the year," he said. "It's hunting season. That's why I always take off the last couple months of the year."

He also backed middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who is in a pay dispute with the UFC. "Hats off to Sean for speaking up for trying to get more money, because if you look at the scope of things based on the statistics that are out there, we are underpaid," Allen said, before adding: "I ain't trying to get canceled. From at least from the bosses. I like my paycheck."

In his Octagon interview straight after the win he had called Strickland out, telling him to fight him or "go ahead and vacate": Strickland's pay dispute.

Allen was not happy with his own performance despite the finish. "I just feel I didn't pull the trigger enough tonight," he said. "I feel like I was just waiting. I couldn't really get out of that second gear for whatever the reason may be."

His training partner Belal Muhammad later revealed that Allen had fought through an illness. "What people don't know is Brendan was dealing with a staph infection since Tuesday of fight week," Muhammad posted on X. "Had to get on antibiotics, still has 5 days left on them, and despite all that adversity, went out there and got the finish."

He choked out Duncan at 2:46 of the fifth round at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas: UFC Vegas 122 results.