Brendan Allen surprised everyone with his latest fight news, as fans couldn’t fathom his decision. After fighting through a killer’s row, the Covington native reached the No. 6 spot in the middleweight division. Even so, he ended up taking a fight against an unranked opponent. Still, as ‘All-In’ risks his ranking, he isn’t afraid to accuse a former champion of ducking him. 

Ahead of his next fight against unranked Edmen Shahbazyan, set to take place at UFC Vegas 118, Brendan Allen stirred the pot by calling out former 185-lb kingpin Dricus du Plessis for allegedly ducking him. 

“DDP went into hiding, and I’m here to fight anyone and everyone and put some money in my bank!!” MMA Orbit posted a screenshot of Allen’s Instagram story on X.  

Well, as the South African former champ is plotting his return to the Octagon, fans believe Allen would have been a solid matchup. Both have a long-standing beef in the middleweight division that dates back roughly two years, when ‘DDP’ made a joke about ‘All-In’s 2-7 chest tattoo. Without knowing its meaning, ‘Stillknocks’ joked that it was Allen’s MMA record, when it was actually ‘All-in’s daughter’s birthday. Since that incident, Allen and Du Plessis have developed real animosity toward each other.

However, as ‘All-In’ has now accused the former champ of ducking him, is there any truth to it? Following his victory at UFC Vancouver over Reinier de Ridder, Allen called out ‘DDP’ along with other champions, and the former middleweight champion did show interest in the matchup. But in the end, he seemed to be looking for a bigger challenge.

“He wins two fights in a row and then is calling out former champions?” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast about Allen last year. “I would love to smash his face in. I would absolutely love it. He’s such an idiot. But to be honest with you, I only pick the best guys. I always want to fight the best next guy,” he added. 

Now, as Allen is getting a very different opponent than he originally expected, there’s a chance he might not face DDP next. In that case, there’s another fight the UFC could explore that would make a lot of sense in the current middleweight division.  

UFC might explore Imavov vs Du Plessis as Brendan Allen faces an unranked opponent  

Currently, the UFC’s middleweight division is moving fast, as Khamzat Chimaev is set to face Sean Strickland in the UFC 328 main event in Newark, New Jersey. Well, that move has snubbed Nassourdine Imavov’s chances of fighting for the championship, even though he’s currently on a five-fight winning streak.

So, the message is clear that the UFC wants the Dagestani-Frenchman to fight one more time to cement his title shot. And after the matchmakers seemingly moved away from the Du Plessis vs. Allen grudge match, there’s a chance Dana White and Co. might end up making this solid clash instead.

At present, Du Plessis is ranked No. 1 in the middleweight rankings, and Imavov is No. 2, which makes the bout feel like a title eliminator between two top contenders. Along with that, the fight also makes a lot of sense stylistically, as it would be interesting to see how the South African’s unorthodox approach matches up with the Dagestani-Frenchman’s sniper-like striking.

That said, do you think the UFC missed out on an amazing bad-blood showdown, as Brendan Allen is facing Edmen Shahbazyan instead of Dricus du Plessis? Let us know in the comments section below.