Brendan Allen Sounds Off on Khamzat Chimaev, Looks For Payback vs RDR
Brendan Allen isn’t mincing words when it comes to the UFC’s middleweight champion as he prepares to face Reinier de Ridder this Saturday at UFC Vancouver.
Allen (25-7) expressed concern that the division could be stalled by Khamzat Chimaev’s history of inactivity, stemming from injuries and other setbacks.
“I think there’s a couple divsion’s all over the place right now, and middleweight’s one of them,” Allen told Cageside Press at his media day scrum on Wednesday.
“It’s definitely a concern. It’s going to be very interesting to see how fast he wants to turn around. He’s a guy that’s been very open and honest about injuries, and setbacks with his health. Hopefully we don’t have to have an interim. If it comes to that hopefully we just strip and he comes back and fights for it. I guess we’ll see.”
Chimaev recently called for a shot at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, a curious move, given he has yet to defend the middleweight title he won in August at UFC 319. The callout drew a smile from Allen.
“I think that’s kind of like the story of Chimaev, right? He just talks a lot, he gets a lot of eyes. It’s not to the degree, but it’s like Conor (McGregor) talking, talking, talking, just to stay relative,” he said.
“Chimaev’s not that bad. He doesn’t say that much stuff and that much reckless stuff. He’s got a lot of work to do in our division first. It’s not like he’s a huge 85er that’s cutting a lot like Alex was to get to 85. It’s weird, but I don’t think that’s in his future right now.”
At UFC Vancouver, Allen faces Reinier de Ridder, who remains unbeaten since joining the promotion last November. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder has defeated four straight middleweights and appears to be just one win away from a UFC title shot.
Allen has made it clear he’s not particularly impressed with de Ridder, and he seems to have a score to settle. De Ridder previously defeated Allen’s friend, former ONE Championship two-division titleholder Aung La Nsang, to claim both belts in 2020 and 2021, making this matchup a bit personal for Allen.
