Brendan Allen and Paul Craig headlined the UFC Vegas 82 Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Craig was coming off a TKO victory over Andre Muniz in his first fight in the middleweight division in his MMA career. Craig had fought exclusively at light heavyweight in his MMA career and was the BAMMA light heavyweight champion.
On the other hand, Allen was coming off an impressive 5-fight win streak, with 4 at middleweight. Interestingly, 4 of his past 5 victories came via rear-naked choke. Both fighters have competed in the light heavyweight division, where Craig boasts notable victories over Jamahal Hill and Magomed Ankalaev.
Brendan Allen thrashes Paul Craig at UFC Vegas 82, earning $50k bonus
The main event fight between Brendan Allen and Paul Craig was not at all competitive. In his second fight at middleweight, after dropping down from light heavyweight, Craig found it difficult to execute his signature submissions on the versatile Allen.
Allen dominated Craig throughout the fight, ultimately securing a third-round rear-naked choke submission for his fourth consecutive victory in the division. Allen was ahead on all scorecards when he forced the tap from Craig in the opening minute of the third round.
The performance garnered him a Performance of the Night bonus of $50k. In addition to Allen, Amanda Ribas, Joanderson Brito, and Jeka Saragih won the same bonus. No Fight of the Night bonus was awarded for the event.
The Performance Bonus was Allen’s third one in four bouts. After the victory, Brendan Allen called for a number one contender fight against anybody that the UFC offers. In the octagon interview with Paul Felder, Allen called out Robert Whitaker, Jared Cannonier, and Khamzat Chimaev.
Brendan Allen submits Paul Craig
Paul Craig is one of the best submission specialists in the UFC. His high-level grappling prowess resulted in victories over Jamahal Hill, the former light heavyweight champion, and Magomed Ankalaev, a former title challenger. Hill and Ankalaev have only lost to Craig in their professional MMA careers.
Craig holds the second-most submission victories in the UFC light heavyweight division with 6 and the most triangle choke submissions in the division with 4. Similarly, Allen has the second-most submission victories in the UFC middleweight division with 6. The main event of UFC Vegas 82 was a clash of submission specialists.
Craig was the master of triangle chokes, and Allen the master of rear-naked chokes. However, it was Allen’s rear-naked choke that prevailed and garnered him the victory at the UFC Apex. The finish came in the third round of the bout. In the UFC, Allen has lost only to the UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis.
Incidentally, Curtis and Strickland are teammates at Extreme Couture. In the corner of Allen for the bout was former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill who had to vacate the title due to injury. The vacant title was won by Alex Pereira by defeating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. Surging middleweight contender Joe Pyfer was also in the corner of Allen.
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