UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan goes Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, and it is a far better main event than the venue suggests.
Brendan Allen, ranked fourth at middleweight at 27-7, faces Christian Leroy Duncan, ranked tenth at 15-2. Main card starts at 8 p.m. ET with prelims at 5 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
Allen Is Running Out of Reasons to Be Overlooked
Allen is 30 and riding a three-fight win streak with two Fight of the Night bonuses in that span. The names on it are real: Marvin Vettori, Reinier de Ridder and Edmen Shahbazyan.
That de Ridder win is the one that moved him. Before this run, Allen had built a seven-fight streak and then had it broken by Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez, which is how a top contender becomes a gatekeeper in the public imagination without actually getting worse.
He has rebuilt the whole thing. Sean Strickland holds the belt. Allen is one convincing win from the conversation.
Duncan Is the Scarier Fight
The Englishman has won five straight, including wins over Roman Dolidze and former title challenger Jared Cannonier, with two Performance of the Night bonuses. He has not lost since his streak began.
This is his first UFC main event. That is the standard red flag with a fast riser, and it is also the only thing left on his resume that he has not done.
Beating Cannonier is not a fluke result. Beating Dolidze is not a fluke result. Duncan is the division’s fastest riser and a win over a top-five opponent puts him there immediately.
The Rest of the Card
Matheus Camilo faces Jai Herbert at lightweight in the co-main. The rest of the main card has Loopy Godinez, ranked eighth, against Ketlen Souza at women’s strawweight, Andre Fili against Kai Kamaka III at featherweight, and Malcolm Wellmaker against Otari Tanzilovi at bantamweight.
The card runs 11 to 12 bouts. The booking was announced Sept. 1.
A Note on the Numbering
You will see this called UFC Vegas 122 or UFC Las Vegas 122 in media shorthand, and you will see Fight Night 280 on some listings. The official name is UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan. UFC Fight Night 282, for what it is worth, was Ankalaev vs. Rountree Jr. in Abu Dhabi in July. The numbering is a mess and the matchup is not.
How I See It
October is stacked. UFC 332 already happened in Salt Lake City, Oct. 17 goes to Edmonton with Buckley vs. Malott, UFC 333 lands in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24 with Volkanovski vs. Evloev, and Oct. 31 closes the month with Moicano vs. Nolan.
In that crowd, an APEX card can get lost. This one should not. Allen is a submission threat who has fought everyone, Duncan is the stylistic nightmare nobody wanted on short notice, and the winner is one fight from a belt.
Neither man has given pre-fight quotes yet, and nobody has confirmed whether this is officially a five-round main event. Assume it is and plan your Saturday around it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.