DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Brendan Allen is still stirring about his loss to Sean Strickland, and the only thing that will allow him to completely move past it is a rematch.
After starting his UFC career with three consecutive wins, Allen (15-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) suffered a second-round TKO loss to Strickland last November at UFC Fight Night 182. He doesn’t believe the outcome was a real indicator of who the better fighter is.
“I knew it was a fluke,” Allen told MMA Junkie on Monday. “He got lucky. He hit me with a lucky shot. I was out of position, I was out of position. I wasn’t in a good spot to take the punch – something that I never do. I never dip that hard, and I don’t know why I did it. I made the wrong read and got caught.”
Allen will attempt to get back on track from the defeat on Saturday when he meets Karl Roberson (9-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout at UFC 261, and that’s currently his focus. He can’t help but notice Strickland is set to compete the following week on May 1 against Krzysztof Jotko, and if somehow that fight falls apart and Strickland is left opponent-less, Allen said he’ll be prepared to compete twice in a week.
“I know that I’m still better than him,” Allen said. “I want to see him again, of course, 100 percent, just to show that. He’s always a guy that’s right there in the mix, top 15-ish so. He’ll always be there and always be there for me. It’s just up to me to go out there and do what I need to do. If Jotko falls out next week then I’ll jump in, no problem.”
For now, though, Allen is ready to take care of business against Roberson. The matchup is part of the UFC 261 prelims, which air on ESPN prior to the main card on ESPN+ pay-per-view from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
“I think it’s going to be a banger,” Allen said. “I think it’s going to be a hard round or two, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to keep the pace with me for three. I look for a hard two rounds and a pretty easy third.”
Brendan Allen wants to avenge ‘fluke’ loss to Sean Strickland after UFC 261
