UFC FIGHT NIGHT: ALLEN VS. CRAIG: The Preview!

Brendan Allen and Paul Craig will take to the octagon this Saturday for the UFC Fight Night main event in a bout set to decide the contender in the 185-pound weight class going into 2024.

The event is highly anticipated, as is the fight, given that it’s going to bring an end to what has been an incredible year for the promotion.

Allen is only 27 but has 40 fights to his name, including amateur and grappling competitions. The American has put a lot of time into his craft and it’s taken him on quite a path. He could get one step closer to realizing a dream when he faces Craig this weekend.

The former Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight champion will enter the fight with the second-longest winning streak in UFC’s middleweight division after four consecutive wins at 185 pounds, five straight if you count the light heavyweight bout vs. Sam Alvey.

Four of those five wins were via rear naked choke. The 27-year-old is in fifth place for the most RNCs in the history of the UFC and it’s likely that he will climb even higher given that he has many years left ahead of him.

Allen has won 10 bouts by way of RNCs in total and boasts a 22-5 professional MMA record. Even so, there’s a lot more he could call upon as he’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He trails only Gerald Meerschaert in UFC when it comes to submission finishes in the middleweight division.

As for Craig, he’ll be sure that his upcoming opponent knows he’s been in a fight as he prepares for a challenge that will draw a whole lot of attention, as well as a lot of betting. The fight is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, so you can well imagine how many bets have rolled in.

Of course, the wagering is not limited to Vegas, and bets have been pouring in from all over the country, including from betting apps in Kentucky, given that the Bluegrass State is one of the latest to legalize sports betting.

The Scot weighed 205 pounds at his UFC debut in 2016 and kept around that weight until last January, when he shed 20 pounds.

Rebranding himself “Paul Craig 2.0” the more defined Craig claims to feel much better as he now carries more muscle mass and less body fat.

“I feel much better in my skin, I feel much better in my body,” he told UFC.com in July. “I look physically more muscular. Even though it’s just a little bit of muscle, my body fat has gone way down, so all the kinds of things, all the numbers that I’m producing in training have been through the roof.

His UFC middleweight debut last year saw him register a technical knockout victory over Andre Muniz.

The 35-year-old sits in second place on the all-time submission list at light heavyweight, with six, boasting more than even Jon Jones. He’s also proven that he can mix it up with the best fighters in the world.

He handed Magomed Ankalaev the only loss of his career to this point via submission, locking him up in a surprising triangle choke in the dying embers. He also beat former champ Jamahal Hill in two minutes.

Craig heads into the fight with a 17-6-1 MMA record and, like Allen, has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Both fighters have a lot riding on this match. A win for Allen would mark his fifth straight in UFC and put him in contention for a title shot. On the other hand, Craig has been on a roll himself, having won his last three fights, and a win over Allen would cement his place as one of the top contenders in the middleweight division.

The stage is set for an epic battle between these two skilled fighters. Fans from all over the world are eagerly waiting to see who comes out on top. Will it be the rising star from America or the experienced veteran from Scotland?

We’ll just have to wait and see. But as far as our own predictions go, we’ve got Allen beating Craig via submission. The American is favored by the bookies too at 3/10, with his opponent at 7/2.