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The Beaufort, South Carolina native has only suffered defeat twice inside the octagon, which started with the now-champion Sean Strickland in a 190-pound catchweight (Nov 2020).
In his nine fights since, Allen has made it clear he wants a rematch with “Tarzan” and feels that he's proved enough by now and it's getting close to a reality:
“I hope the UFC sees that and knows that I am the next big thing,” Allen said during a post-fight show on ESPN+. “I’ve been in there with Sean. I was a lot younger, I was a lot more immature mentally, and still I was winning that fight."
“I just made a bad audible, and I got caught. I’m happy he’s the champion. Congratulations to him. I think he’s a funny guy playing these antics, but all that aside, I know in my heart I’m better, and I think he does too."
Strickland’s title reign has given new life to their division, and first to challenge the outspoken American will be one of the fresher faces in South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis when the two meet at the UFC 297 headliner.
Du Plessis has been a perennial underdog on his path to No. 1 contender status. Against the champion, Allen doesn’t feel that should change:
“Dricus is the luckiest guy in the world, but I don’t think he beats Sean. I think Sean’s that guy, he starts slow and he comes on. Stylistically, I think Sean’s a little too much and a little too experienced for Dricus.
Dricus really just runs his mouth and then catches guys on bursts. But other than Whittaker, who has he beat the whole time in a fight?"
"He’s always losing and comes back. He can dig deep, he’s good at digging deep. Congrats to him, but I don’t personally think he beats Sean. He definitely doesn’t beat me though, so I don’t worry about it."
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/11...oes-too?ueid=90ba815ca2d6171a8028c912d75ab95d
In his nine fights since, Allen has made it clear he wants a rematch with “Tarzan” and feels that he's proved enough by now and it's getting close to a reality:
“I hope the UFC sees that and knows that I am the next big thing,” Allen said during a post-fight show on ESPN+. “I’ve been in there with Sean. I was a lot younger, I was a lot more immature mentally, and still I was winning that fight."
“I just made a bad audible, and I got caught. I’m happy he’s the champion. Congratulations to him. I think he’s a funny guy playing these antics, but all that aside, I know in my heart I’m better, and I think he does too."
Strickland’s title reign has given new life to their division, and first to challenge the outspoken American will be one of the fresher faces in South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis when the two meet at the UFC 297 headliner.
Du Plessis has been a perennial underdog on his path to No. 1 contender status. Against the champion, Allen doesn’t feel that should change:
“Dricus is the luckiest guy in the world, but I don’t think he beats Sean. I think Sean’s that guy, he starts slow and he comes on. Stylistically, I think Sean’s a little too much and a little too experienced for Dricus.
Dricus really just runs his mouth and then catches guys on bursts. But other than Whittaker, who has he beat the whole time in a fight?"
"He’s always losing and comes back. He can dig deep, he’s good at digging deep. Congrats to him, but I don’t personally think he beats Sean. He definitely doesn’t beat me though, so I don’t worry about it."
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/11...oes-too?ueid=90ba815ca2d6171a8028c912d75ab95d
