Brendan Allen accepted an offer to face Nassouddin Imavov in Paris but is now having second thoughts about the venue.
Allen (24-5 MMA, 12-2 UFC) revealed that UFC offered him and he accepted the offer to fight Imavov (14-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on September 28 at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
But when he heard that the Benoit St-Denis vs. Renato Moicano bout would be a five-round bout and potentially make the main card, the rising middleweight contender refused to make the journey halfway across the world.
“To everyone asking when I'm fighting next and what's going on,” Allen said on his Instagram Story (via MMA Orbit). “Two weeks ago I was asked to fight Imavov in Paris and I said yes. I said I want it to be the main event because I've been in three main events in a row and won them all. I'm going to go to enemy territory. If I'm going to take all the risk and reward, I'm going to make it the main event. I see BSD vs. Moicano being the main event next. I really don't want to go to Paris to lose to those two.”
“One just lost and the other barely won. No, I don't think so. So Imavov, if you want to fight, if you want this job, come to America and we'll get it done. We can't be less than these guys. I know this is the Ultimate Followers Championship, but they have followers, so put them on the cards and people will come anyway. Imavov, you want to fight, you want to get this job done, even if I'm the only one who wants to fight, come to America and we'll get it done.”
Three of Allen's last four fights have been main events in the Octagon, with wins over Andre Muniz, Paul Craig and Chris Curtis. The 28-year-old Allen is on a seven-fight winning streak and is ranked No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie.
