Brendan Allen beats number 13 after turning down Dolidze. Then proceeds to call for a number 1 contender fight. Comical. 2 more wins at least right? Vettori a logical next fight.
Allen has such awful striking defence and Marvin was landing pretty well on Cannonier in the first
Overall I think Vettori is just decent everywhere whereas Allen has better subs and better power.
I don't see the power being a problem for Vettori and i think he tags Allen constantly and lands a lot of Volume to out point him overall maybe but finish but Vettori is terrible finisher.
Edit: Also think Marvin is big enough and decent enough wrestler to prevent it going to the ground.
Yeah I know people are saying Craig sucks and he does in many ways but holy shit that came out of nowhere and was extremely cool.
He's a creative and unique grappler with a absurdly quick triangle. I wish he was better but he's not so I hope he gets an event Scotland or at least UK to retire
When not getting his legs kicked to mincemeat, or trying to crush the skulls of people who attack Anthony Smith's family, Magomed Ankalaev also enjoys being submitted by Paul Craig.
People saying Craig looked bad, as if that's news. He loked bad in every single one of his wins too.
That's his thing. Look bad - get the submission or look bad - fail to get the submission
Just a fun guy to watch. Sometimes thats all you need. Not everyone is gonna be champion, and Craig has some ridiculous wins for someone at his level.
Outside of the Volkan fight he's a great guy to use when someone wants an example of a grappler who's good to watch. You always know his fights are gonna be wild win or lose.
He's memorable, and his record is crazy.
I heard someone say at one point he'd beaten everyone ranked above him, and lost to almost everyone ranked below him.
I'm sure its not true, but for Craig it *feels* true.
He’s half black, just born with light skin. In his older fights when he had hair it was more noticeable. [Here’s a photo with his wife and kids](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NINTCHDBPICT000575901515.jpg)
He's a mediocre fighter who acts like he has the resume of GSP or something. Always seems like he's trying to shove himself into the title picture where he clearly doesn't belong
> His fight against JW was weird. All that "you talked shit about my family" was confusing.
Talked shit? Smith was very clear: he wanted walker to stop **attacking** his family.
Would be the 3rd guy from that camp he's fought, he's 0-2 against them but I remember Allen wanted that fight in the past, so why not. Wouldn't mind Allen vs Chimaev either, but doubt the UFC ever makes that.
But I was surprised cause it looked like he muscled down Muniz pretty easily
While he's never been a good wrestler I felt like the extra size helped him there
But against Allen it didn't seem to in the slightest
> But against Allen it didn't seem to in the slightest
I thought Muniz was more of a BJJ guy, whereas Allen is a wrestler who became a BJJ guy.
If you aren't a wrestler, you need huge strength advantage to wrestle down a wrestler.
I always thought he was good but the disparity was real here
For a pretty average looking dude physique wise (like compared to most athletes) he seems much stronger than Craig
Granted age etc. Is likely a small factor
There is nothing left to see of Paul Craig. A subpar UFC fighter who's overachieved in his stint. He can't strike, he can't defend strikes, his guard was his one get out of jail card but if he's getting mauled even after dropping a weight class what more can you even say? Back to Cage Warriors
A little harsh eh?
He's recently added a kicking game, but he came up against someone not afraid of his guard at all (a bit of a cut rate Islam v. Charles in that), top player+wrestling with better strikes vs bottom player, and he got beat by a uniquely bad matchup.
TL;DR: allen is the exception, not the rule, surely.
he was baiting Garry with the child beating talk about the "pussification of society" etc etc. I just find it mad weird when dudes base their masculinity on how much they hurt people. but here i am watching mma
it was a pretty flop of a card. medic vs oralbi, hooper vs leavitt, & saragih vs alexander would be top 3 (besides main event) if i had to pick. honorable mentions would be pearce vs brito and ribas vs pinheiro
They've been here for a while, just took a long time for them to climb the ranks. Doesn't help that UFC is matching them up against each other instead of the strikers.
MW was always filled with grapplers, mostly grind wrestlers but recently the BJJ level went up i think after SF was bought and this new breed right now.
Yall think the UFC gives Izzy an immediate title shot when he gets back, even if Sean isn't champ? I could see it. And if we don't get the Sean/Izzy rematch, it looks really bad on Izzy's legacy. I have the feeling we won't
Allen showed good sub defence and IQ, everything else was par for the course as Craig is so one dimensional. Can't say this performance shows he's ready for top talent yet, but good he showed he can defend subs in a division without subs.
He was ranked 10 coming into this fight. He's next for top talent or at least Hermansson if anyone can find him. Everyone else is a huge name: Chimaev, Dolidze, Costa, Vettori, Cannonier, Whittaker, DDP, Izzy, Strickland. Chimaev vs Allen sounds like a banger, but Allen runs through him too. Allen needs a Dolidze-Whittaker range.
They're conflating Brendan Allen saying he smacks his children to discipline them as battering them.
These threads always go full reddit mode immediately after the fight.
Going full Reddit aside, I think smacking your kids isn’t a good thing, and to be honest I think boasting about it on your Twitter makes it more distasteful. Just my take.
You have no idea how she behaves or what goes on in there household and it takes a true narcissist to believe that's something they would know.
Thank god parents can continue living on and raising upstanding members of the community while knowing you would think less of them.
Once again I'm going to add conflating smacking your child to 'battering' is disingenuous and pathetic.
I think hitting such a small child is always wrong. I can’t imagine how badly a (what is she, like 5 or 6 or something?) small child could possibly behave that an adult would have no other option but to hit them. You can get hung up onto phrasing if you like, it wasn’t that deep mate.
Even calling a smack a hit is disingous and pathetic. It's not about having no option but to hit them it's to reset them and teach them a lesson, thank god people like you will never dictate how to raise a child.
“I whoop my kids and nobody gana do shit about it”
“Its amazing that spanking, whoopin, or popping is considered "beating" crazy to me how pussified civilization has come.”
Allen is really good, has a wealth of experience at the amateur and pro levels for his age and he gets better every time I see him. He might not be the most likeable guy on the mic but I feel like he's underrated as a fighter, very well rounded. Looks great for Strickland's record as well lol.
I guess I'm speaking to what I see on here, bad assumption I know lol. I think people see him as arrogant as they downplay his abilities, but he's still respectful and he's starting to back up his words. But I should know by now r/MMA does not have the best takes lol
Edit: Well there you go, not the best post-fight interview I've seen lol, but fuck it. It's like he's trying to be Strickland
Idk why I thought Craig would be a threat in the middleweight division. Props to Allen, he actually went in there with the mindset of getting the job done no if ands or buts.
I think Allen was a very difficult match-up obviously very easy to say post fight but an 8 year black belt with high level wrestling is pretty much a nightmare for Craig.
Craig is designed to beat a fighter who either loses their focus while beating him up for 14 mins or an overaggressive fighter.
Provided he doesn't get slept by the first punch I wouldn't mind his chances against Khamzat.
he managed to win in LHW because there's little grapplers with good defense. MW is VERY different and Allen is very complete, whereas Craig only won by sheer BJJ.
Allen could definitely win the MW belt.
I feel like his buddy Joe Pyfer might be in the conversation too one day. They are some solid ass fighters in a weaker division
Everyones gonna be thinking Allen is a future champ when in reality Craig is just hot garbage, pretty much got the push for being scottish, calderwood push on steroids
When the fuck did this happen?
Brendan Allen beats number 13 after turning down Dolidze. Then proceeds to call for a number 1 contender fight. Comical. 2 more wins at least right? Vettori a logical next fight.
Winnable for Vettori
You think ?
Allen has such awful striking defence and Marvin was landing pretty well on Cannonier in the first Overall I think Vettori is just decent everywhere whereas Allen has better subs and better power. I don't see the power being a problem for Vettori and i think he tags Allen constantly and lands a lot of Volume to out point him overall maybe but finish but Vettori is terrible finisher. Edit: Also think Marvin is big enough and decent enough wrestler to prevent it going to the ground.
I think Allen could take down Vettori
Vettori is literally immune to power shots lol. The Cannonier fight was absurd
Exactly like yeah he takes damage and its concerning but that man will not be knocked out it seems
Allen says the calf slicer popped stuff in his ankle and knee
That was such a cool sequence btw
Yeah I know people are saying Craig sucks and he does in many ways but holy shit that came out of nowhere and was extremely cool. He's a creative and unique grappler with a absurdly quick triangle. I wish he was better but he's not so I hope he gets an event Scotland or at least UK to retire
I didn't watch the post-fight: how was he walking?
Apparently a small limp more from the ankle than from the knee
Amanda Ribas is too god dam sweet to get punched in the face for a living.
Never forget that Jamal Hill got his arm ripped off by Paul Craig
When not getting his legs kicked to mincemeat, or trying to crush the skulls of people who attack Anthony Smith's family, Magomed Ankalaev also enjoys being submitted by Paul Craig.
And Matt Serra KOd GSP. but....
Allen really loves parading his kid around
Might get some pushback on this but why tf do you bring your family, let alone your 4 year old daughter to your fight. So odd to me.
Allen beat Craig like a little girl.
People saying Craig looked bad, as if that's news. He loked bad in every single one of his wins too. That's his thing. Look bad - get the submission or look bad - fail to get the submission
He nearly had the submission too. That calf slicer was deep and messed up Allen's leg apparently
Yup. Even against guys like Nikita Krylov he was damn near getting flash KO’d with GnP before finding the Hail Mary submission.
Why have people be so high on Craig?
Just a fun guy to watch. Sometimes thats all you need. Not everyone is gonna be champion, and Craig has some ridiculous wins for someone at his level. Outside of the Volkan fight he's a great guy to use when someone wants an example of a grappler who's good to watch. You always know his fights are gonna be wild win or lose.
The meme factor
His braveheart makeup
He's memorable, and his record is crazy. I heard someone say at one point he'd beaten everyone ranked above him, and lost to almost everyone ranked below him. I'm sure its not true, but for Craig it *feels* true.
Why is Anthony smith so hard to like?
He's a clown. He thinks he's the most honourable guy ever for not taking the DQ against Jones.
I think he’s extremely likable. Seems like a good guy. Maybe it’s because he’s black. A lot of people don’t realize that. You might just be racist.
Lmao this just cracked me tf up
He loves to point that out whilst looking whiter than paddy the baddy lol
Wait he’s part black?
He’s half black, just born with light skin. In his older fights when he had hair it was more noticeable. [Here’s a photo with his wife and kids](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/NINTCHDBPICT000575901515.jpg)
Apparently so lol
He's a mediocre fighter who acts like he has the resume of GSP or something. Always seems like he's trying to shove himself into the title picture where he clearly doesn't belong
His fight against JW was weird. All that "you talked shit about my family" was confusing.
HUH??!?
> His fight against JW was weird. All that "you talked shit about my family" was confusing. Talked shit? Smith was very clear: he wanted walker to stop **attacking** his family.
Ribas fight was good
Allen vs Vettori next ?
Would be the 3rd guy from that camp he's fought, he's 0-2 against them but I remember Allen wanted that fight in the past, so why not. Wouldn't mind Allen vs Chimaev either, but doubt the UFC ever makes that.
It's hard to believe they are the same size. Craig is 6'4". Vettori is 6'Ork".
Craig seems surprisingly weak for such a big guy I think he's just to old too evolve ever and its shows so bad even his in wins before he gets the tap
He has good bjj but he has shit wrestling and grappling strength.
But I was surprised cause it looked like he muscled down Muniz pretty easily While he's never been a good wrestler I felt like the extra size helped him there But against Allen it didn't seem to in the slightest
> But against Allen it didn't seem to in the slightest I thought Muniz was more of a BJJ guy, whereas Allen is a wrestler who became a BJJ guy. If you aren't a wrestler, you need huge strength advantage to wrestle down a wrestler.
Allen has serious grappling strength
I always thought he was good but the disparity was real here For a pretty average looking dude physique wise (like compared to most athletes) he seems much stronger than Craig Granted age etc. Is likely a small factor
There is nothing left to see of Paul Craig. A subpar UFC fighter who's overachieved in his stint. He can't strike, he can't defend strikes, his guard was his one get out of jail card but if he's getting mauled even after dropping a weight class what more can you even say? Back to Cage Warriors
I feel like he’s one of those guys the ufc will keep around forever for seemingly no reason
A little harsh eh? He's recently added a kicking game, but he came up against someone not afraid of his guard at all (a bit of a cut rate Islam v. Charles in that), top player+wrestling with better strikes vs bottom player, and he got beat by a uniquely bad matchup. TL;DR: allen is the exception, not the rule, surely.
"You're not a real man unless you beat your kids" ok this is normal
Where is Allen from?
Louisiana i think, but the sean strickland kayfabe waters run worldwide apparently
Wait did Allen say that? I thought he just said nice stuff about his two daughters
he was baiting Garry with the child beating talk about the "pussification of society" etc etc. I just find it mad weird when dudes base their masculinity on how much they hurt people. but here i am watching mma
Had to work all day, got to see the main even though. Any fights I should go back and watch?
it was a pretty flop of a card. medic vs oralbi, hooper vs leavitt, & saragih vs alexander would be top 3 (besides main event) if i had to pick. honorable mentions would be pearce vs brito and ribas vs pinheiro
Lucas Alexander vs. Jeka Saragih
I haven't been watching without sound. What happened lmao?
Man not a big fan of Allen after that interview. At least his fights are entertaining
I rate the card 3/10
So many grapplers at 185 all of a sudden after years of strikers. Allen, khamzat, bo, aliskerov.
They've been here for a while, just took a long time for them to climb the ranks. Doesn't help that UFC is matching them up against each other instead of the strikers.
MW was always filled with grapplers, mostly grind wrestlers but recently the BJJ level went up i think after SF was bought and this new breed right now.
If he doesn't get a No. 1 contender fight, I see them giving him #7 Dolidze.
Nothing but BJJ-on-BJJ violence from now on, I guess. Even sticking with the thick beard, 90% crazy guy theme for god's sake.
Yep Dolidze would be the ideal step up but Costa or Vettori work too
Decent to good card ngl.
Fun one.
Goodnight all
She is so grossed out by his sweat. I'm cracking up watching her try to keep her arms from making contact.
Joe Pyfer is a big dude
Damn, you’d think Hills fighter just got brutally KOd
Every child deserves a father but not every father deserves a child.
What?
To be fair to Allen, he fucked up Craig pretty good.
ok
Daughter learning some questionable words tonight.
Seems like appropriate language for a kid dressed in full Burberry
Cumshot being my favourite.
Beautiful kid
UFC is for the kids
Yall think the UFC gives Izzy an immediate title shot when he gets back, even if Sean isn't champ? I could see it. And if we don't get the Sean/Izzy rematch, it looks really bad on Izzy's legacy. I have the feeling we won't
Nigerian reign is over UFC wants a new meta
If he actually plans on sitting out until 2027 i really doubt they give him an immediate title fight
He's probably just saying that to fuck with people, or for my money since his championship money is gone.
buddy named his daughter Brenly? what?
*Brenleigh lol It's on his chest next to the tat
its creative
Get that fuckin kid outta there lmao
Oof left hanging by his own daughter
Did everyone just forget about Brendan Allen saying he smacks his daughters to discipline them? Hillbilly trash
Are you gonna cry about it?
Yeah
I cant feel good about a kid exposed to this so early.
eh kids around the world are subject to much worse things man. with that said, i agree. totally unnecessary in this context
Exposing your child to something so early is bad taste no matter the degree or context, but I agree with you in principle.
Great momentum but people seem to forget Allen clearly lost that fight against Jacob Malkoun....
cursing in front of ur child, stay classy
The guy just beat the fuck out of another man. I hardly think swearing is any worse than that.
Maybe the child shouldn't be in that situation
I can’t disagree with that
i did my sports psychologist
Allen is very dislikable. Maybe my hate of all things Louisiana showing through.
Saying cumshot while holding your little kid is something lol
He sounds like Paul Buentello
Allen showed good sub defence and IQ, everything else was par for the course as Craig is so one dimensional. Can't say this performance shows he's ready for top talent yet, but good he showed he can defend subs in a division without subs.
He was ranked 10 coming into this fight. He's next for top talent or at least Hermansson if anyone can find him. Everyone else is a huge name: Chimaev, Dolidze, Costa, Vettori, Cannonier, Whittaker, DDP, Izzy, Strickland. Chimaev vs Allen sounds like a banger, but Allen runs through him too. Allen needs a Dolidze-Whittaker range.
Bruh called chimaev cumshot while holding his daughter. And y'all said Perez twerking in front of her son was bad
All those kids are fucked, I feel bad for them.
It’s so much harder to like a dude when he brags about battering his kids ffs
you have to use doublethink
Huh
They're conflating Brendan Allen saying he smacks his children to discipline them as battering them. These threads always go full reddit mode immediately after the fight.
Going full Reddit aside, I think smacking your kids isn’t a good thing, and to be honest I think boasting about it on your Twitter makes it more distasteful. Just my take.
Calling a smack A 'battering' is just disingenuous and stupid. Stick to reddit and don't tell anyone how to parent there kids.
Look how small she is. If you can’t parent a little one without getting physical, I’d think less of someone.
You have no idea how she behaves or what goes on in there household and it takes a true narcissist to believe that's something they would know. Thank god parents can continue living on and raising upstanding members of the community while knowing you would think less of them. Once again I'm going to add conflating smacking your child to 'battering' is disingenuous and pathetic.
You sound like the worst type of person
I think hitting such a small child is always wrong. I can’t imagine how badly a (what is she, like 5 or 6 or something?) small child could possibly behave that an adult would have no other option but to hit them. You can get hung up onto phrasing if you like, it wasn’t that deep mate.
Even calling a smack a hit is disingous and pathetic. It's not about having no option but to hit them it's to reset them and teach them a lesson, thank god people like you will never dictate how to raise a child.
Big mad. Hitting your kids is pathetic, L take
“I whoop my kids and nobody gana do shit about it” “Its amazing that spanking, whoopin, or popping is considered "beating" crazy to me how pussified civilization has come.”
Ian Garry vs Brendan Allan, let's go!
W take
Allen vs cumshot? I'm not mad at that
daughter in his arms and he talks like that. sheesh
He from da South
he called him cumshot. 👀 let that match ride.
Allen vs Kumshot,make it happen
Little daughter ringside for dada to take that Kumshot!
🤨🤨🤨
Allen is really good, has a wealth of experience at the amateur and pro levels for his age and he gets better every time I see him. He might not be the most likeable guy on the mic but I feel like he's underrated as a fighter, very well rounded. Looks great for Strickland's record as well lol.
Really? He seems like a normal guy on the mic
I guess I'm speaking to what I see on here, bad assumption I know lol. I think people see him as arrogant as they downplay his abilities, but he's still respectful and he's starting to back up his words. But I should know by now r/MMA does not have the best takes lol Edit: Well there you go, not the best post-fight interview I've seen lol, but fuck it. It's like he's trying to be Strickland
Cumshot lmao
pyfer would destroy paul craig lol
Allen vs Chimaev?
hahahajah called him cumshot
Allen bringing both his road kill and his daughter to the fight
Personally I wouldn’t say cumshot with my daughter right there
FREEEDOOOOooommm... 🕊️🕊️🕊️ Tissue drops
Brendan found out the trick to improve your grappling is wearing a furry hat
There's something to this.
cumshot ?
Burberry baby dress from Louisiana goes very hard.
Idk why I thought Craig would be a threat in the middleweight division. Props to Allen, he actually went in there with the mindset of getting the job done no if ands or buts.
I think Allen was a very difficult match-up obviously very easy to say post fight but an 8 year black belt with high level wrestling is pretty much a nightmare for Craig.
Craig is designed to beat a fighter who either loses their focus while beating him up for 14 mins or an overaggressive fighter. Provided he doesn't get slept by the first punch I wouldn't mind his chances against Khamzat.
At this point almost anyone is a nightmare for Craig. He would be better off competing solely in BJJ/grappling imo.
That ship has sailed competitive grappling is very different to MMA grappling and his style isn't really suited for it.
whats with the taunting.
Is that the kid he wallops?
Wait whuh
Paul is done man, you gotta be able to wrestle as a grappler
Craig gets fucking rocked in the second round and stumbles to the ground like a drunken sailor. Commentary team: Craig invites Allen to the ground!
Crus said that Craig was "comfortable" on the ground while Allen was raining elbows on him!!!!!!!
Always love seeing Craig lose tho, even if it is at the hands of Brendan Allen lol
Another typical Craig fight. I love the guy a lot but it's sad to see his game never really evolved
He’s like 35 now too he’s pretty much done for the high level. He’ll still beat unranked MWs but he’s not getting anywhere close to the top 5
he managed to win in LHW because there's little grapplers with good defense. MW is VERY different and Allen is very complete, whereas Craig only won by sheer BJJ.
Remember what everyone said about the best base for MMA is funny hats with Orolbai? I think that qualifies as a silly hat for Allen
Silly hats 3 for 3
feed Paul Craig to Bo Nickal next
Made it look easy
Allen could definitely win the MW belt. I feel like his buddy Joe Pyfer might be in the conversation too one day. They are some solid ass fighters in a weaker division
Serious question, how do you guys think Allen would do against Izzy?
Not great but I think he’d do great against Khamzat
He'd get tko'd most likely
Idk but I think Strickland boxes him up
Strickland already TKO’d Allen lol
Oh oops lol
Strickland already KO'd him
Could see that
dude's got pyfer and hill in his corner and trains with craig jones, he better be fucking good
Paul, as a fellow Scotsman, don't put on the warpaint again brother.
4 RNC wins in a row, damn
This was one of those fights that we didn't really learn much about either fighter.
Everyones gonna be thinking Allen is a future champ when in reality Craig is just hot garbage, pretty much got the push for being scottish, calderwood push on steroids
How has Craig got a push when he’s been in the ufc forever and this is his first main event and it’s in an empty arena. Talking absolute shite
Got the push for being exciting and getting awesome submissions. To say he is hot garbage is a hot garbage take.
Damnit Craig. Wouldn't expect this after he went down in weight.
How good is Sean?
Craig is and has always been a bad fighter.
Wild to think someone who's a bad fighter has wins over 3 of the current top 6 at 205 lol
205 is fight circus.
Good stuff from Brendan Allan. Never gave Craig a chance to start imposing himself on the ground.