On October 10, the UFC returns to the Meta Apex for the UFC Vegas 122 event. In the main event, Brendan Allen takes on Christian Leroy Duncan in the middleweight division. Both fighters are ranked in the top 10 of the UFC media rankings.
The UFC announced the fight through social media. Allen is ranked fourth in the media rankings and fifth in the Meta rankings, while his opponent, Duncan, is ranked tenth and eleventh, respectively.
[ LIVE OCT 10 on @ParamountPlus ]
Fighting Down Again
Despite winning his last three fights, Brendan Allen has to defend his ranking in the top 5 of the middleweight division again. The American fighter was on a seven-fight winning streak between 2022 and 2024, but after losing twice, it looked like a spot in the top of the rankings wasn’t in his near future. Allen was able to turn things around and beat both Marvin Vettori and Reinier de Ridder on short notice last year and fought his way back into title contention.
In his most recent fight, Allen accepted an unranked challenge against Edmen Shahbazyan because he wanted to stay active in the division. Allen won the fight by unanimous decision and hoped to challenge someone in the top 5 next. The UFC has made different plans and has matched up Allen now with the up-and-coming Englishman Christian Leroy Duncan.
A Big Opportunity
Duncan gets a big opportunity from the UFC to break into the top 5 of the division. The English fighter signed with the promotion in 2023 as the Cage Warriors champion. Duncan brought lots of hype with him to the Octagon but struggled against the better opposition. Since his loss to Gregory Rodrigues in 2024, Duncan has developed into a legit contender in the division. After beating Andrey Pulyaev, the English fighter took two “Performance of the Night” bonuses against both Eryk Anders and Marco Tulio.
With the Tulio finish, Duncan put himself back on the map in the UFC as one of the most dangerous up-and-comers in the division. Because of that win, he got a shot at the rankings earlier this year against Roman Dolidze. Duncan won via unanimous decision and also beat former title challenger Jared Cannonier in his most recent fight. With a five-fight winning streak, he know fights his first main event in the UFC and takes on Brendan Allen.
UFC Vegas 122 – October 10
- Brendan Allen vs. Christian Leroy Duncan
- Dariya Zhelezniakova vs. Alice Pereira
- Andre Fili vs. Kai Kamaka III
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Julius Walker
- Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Otari Tanzilovi
- Matheus Camilo vs. Jai Herbert
- Melissa Gatto vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
- Francisco Prado vs. TBA
- RJ Harris vs. Allen Frye Jr.
- Felipe Franco vs. Alexander Poppeck
Middleweights Headline UFC Vegas 122 in Las Vegas