“Things were popping,” Brendan Allen’s bone-chilling revelation during Paul Craig’s calf slicer attempt

Brendan Allen divulges not backing down from injury, wants UFC 300 title eliminator after main event win.

“Things were popping,” Brendan Allen’s bone-chilling revelation during Paul Craig’s calf slicer attempt

Brendan Allen, who submitted Paul Craig, wants to pave his way up to UFC 300 (Source: IMAGO)

In the main event of UFC Vegas 82, Brendan Allen picked up his sixth straight win. He defeated Paul Craig by way of a rear-naked choke submission. Allen, who is now 23-5 MMA, 11-2 UFC, submitted Craig in the third round. With the subsequent victory, Allen now feels within the grasp of a headlining middleweight titular shot, specifically at UFC 300.

The bout started with methodical striking and apt acumen. Both fighters exhibited extensive ground game. Allen proceeded with more definitive strikes on Paul Craig. He had even bypassed a takedown and tossed on into a mount of his own. Allen summed up a total of seven minutes and 58 seconds of ground control before the submission. However, he had fallen prey to a calf-slicer by the opponent. At the post-fight press conference, he said:

I wasn’t expecting him to go for my leg...I saw him do it in one or two fights, but I wasn’t expecting him to go under. Things were popping! But I think I’ve popped a lot of things in my ankles before. I felt it popping, but I knew at one point, when you do jiu-jitsu enough, you know there’s no more. You know he’s not wrenching anymore, nothing else is going to happen...
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Early in the second round, both fighters landed hard shots simultaneously. But Craig was the first to shoot in for a takedown. There were subsequent mounts and dismounts following that. Additionally, Allen mentioned it getting a bit “hairy”. After dislodging and escaping, Allen did maintain his dominant stance though.

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A calf slicer usually puts a lot of pressure on the knee. But Allen says it was his ankle that felt worse during the submission and after the fight. He doesn’t expect to be seriously injured as a result, but Allen doesn’t plan to fight again until around April 2024, giving him time to recover if necessary.

Brendan Allen makes huge callouts after the win and says he is ready for anyone

When Brendan Allen choked out Paul Craig in the third round of their middleweight headliner at UFC Apex on Saturday, he made another statement. Allen has now finished numerous opponents with a rear-naked choke. After the fight, he demanded a paved way to a title shot. With his latest victory, he feels he is rightfully close to a middleweight eliminator bout.

Brendan Allen, who defeated Paul Craig, wants a way to a title shot, at UFC 300
Brendan Allen, who defeated Paul Craig, wants a way to a title shot, at UFC 300 (Source: IMAGO)

Craig, 17-7-1 MMA, 9-7-1 UFC, was submitted in the third round of the matchup. After the fight, the 27-year-old fighter doubled down on his aspirations to be a divisional top contender. He also expressed his wish to be part of the upcoming, historic UFC 300. In the Octagon in-ring interview, after his fight, he was asked who he has next in sight, by MMA Junkie. He said:

Whoever Mick (Maynard), Hunter (Campbell) and Dana (White) say, that’s who we’re fighting. Whoever they say, ‘When you win this, you’re guaranteed a title shot.’ That’s who I’m fighting. Name doesn’t matter. I’ve worked so hard to get here. I’ve sacrificed so much to get here in my personal life and every other part of my life...

Both of Allen’s UFC main event victories have been by way of third-round stoppage. His first was a win over Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night 220 in February, which was an impromptu spot in the main event. This was after Nikita Krylov fell ill before facing Ryan Spann in the headlining bout.

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