Dana White's Contender Series
Brendan Allen | Dana White’s Contender Series Grad Showcase
Highlighting Fighters Who Made Their Mark On Dana White’s Contender Series And Have Continued To Impress In The UFC
Dana White’s Contender Series has proven to be a launching pad for rising UFC stars, offering fighters the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of the UFC CEO.
With one chance to make an impression, DWCS fighters can earn a UFC contract based solely on their performance that night if White believes they have what it takes to compete with UFC talent.
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In this series, we showcase DWCS grads who have started to rise the ranks since earning their UFC contract on the show. Next up: one of the hottest middleweight contenders, Brendan Allen, who comes into his clash with Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris riding a seven-fight win streak.
Brendan Allen
Brendan Allen punched his ticket to the UFC with a first-round submission victory on Dana White’s Contender Series Season 3 in 2018 and has climbed his way to become the No. 8 ranked middleweight in the world off the back of seven straight victories inside the Octagon.
After his contract-winning performance on the show, Allen was thrown straight into the fire in his debut against fellow Contender Series grad Kevin Holland. The South Carolina native passed his first big test with flying colors, submitting Holland via rear-naked choke in the second round.
Allen went on to win four of his next five, with his only loss in that stretch coming to former middleweight champion Sean Strickland. Allen faced his second setback three fights later in December 2021 against Chris Curtis. Since then, however, it’s been smooth sailing for the Kill Cliff FC product.
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The 28-year-old wasted no time getting back in the Octagon, moving up a weight division just two months later to challenge Sam Alvey at light heavyweight. Allen got back to his winning ways the best way he knows how – by submitting Alvey via rear-naked choke.
Allen's most reliable weapon is the rear-naked choke, and while fighters know it’s coming, they often struggle to defend against it. Since his UFC debut in 2019, Allen has stopped six opponents with this technique, bringing his total to 11 submissions in his professional career.
On his current seven-fight win streak, Allen finished five fights by rear-naked choke (Alvey, Krzysztof Jotko, André Muniz, Bruno Silva, Paul Craig), and two by decision. He’s also collected three Performance of the Night bonuses in his last five fights.
Allen is coming off one of his toughest fights to date, a rematch against Chris Curtis, one of just two people to beat him in the UFC. Both fighters landed over 100 significant strikes, but Allen was able to secure six takedowns and rack up over six minutes of control time to get the nod on two of the judges’ scorecards.
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On Saturday, Allen returns to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Saint Denis to take on the biggest challenge of his career, on paper, No. 4 ranked middleweight Nassourdine Imavov. Like Allen, the France native has only seen defeat twice in the UFC but is coming off back-to-back victories over Roman Dolidze and Jared Cannonier.
A win for Allen this weekend could move him into the middleweight Top 5 and would bring him a huge step closer to the middleweight title and 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis.
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Saint Denis took place live from Accor Arena in Paris, France on September 28, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!