As the sport of mixed martial arts grows around the world, more and more stars arise. Of course, the UFC is the pinnacle of the sport, but there are up-and-coming fighters in promotions other than the UFC and Bellator. Legacy Fighting Alliance’s Brendan Allen is certainly one of them.
A pro fighter since 2015, Allen has made significant improvements as his career has progressed. Now, he will fight for LFA middleweight title for the second time in less than a year. Although Allen’s first title fight against Eryk Anders at LFA 14 did not work out the way he had hoped, Allen feels like he learned a lot from it.
“Main thing was trusting in my skills,” Allen told Combat Press. “That’s why I switched gyms after that fight, because I felt like I wasn’t really growing as a fighter where I was at before. I second-guessed a lot of things I did. But I learned a lot of good things coming out of [the fight], and now I have a great camp and great coaches. I feel like we are the best camp in the world, have the greatest coaches in the world, and I gotta go out there and do me and I’ll be just fine.”
After the loss to Anders, Allen was relatively quick to get back inside of the cage. He managed to bounce back from the loss in a very impressive fashion when he finished Chris Harris by triangle choke in the second round of their LFA 18 bout.
“Ultimately, I was just very angry at myself, how the fight [with Anders] went, and how I didn’t perform,” said Allen. “I underperformed greatly, so I was very frustrated with myself, and I just wanted to get back in there and get right to the belt, so I can get into the UFC and get a rematch eventually. I was just frustrated and wanted to prove that it wasn’t really me who fought that night against Anders.”
Allen’s next opponent is Anthony Hernandez, who currently holds a 5-0 professional MMA record. The pair meet at LFA 32 on Jan. 26.
“I think Anthony is a very game opponent,” Allen said. “He’ll be ready to go. Overall, he’s a pretty intelligent kid, and I look forward to testing myself against him. Most definitely I feel like I should have the advantage everywhere. If I’m as good as I think I am, I should have the advantage from the starting bell to whenever the finish bell is.”
Impressively, Allen has finished every single winning fight of his professional career so far. He is always out to break his opponents, but that doesn’t mean his mindset hasn’t evolved.
“Like I always said, I like to break them,” said Allen. “I used to think of fighting as a sport, just going out there and we fight and being more technical than my opponent, but this fight, I am taking it seriously. My coaches are putting a lot of effort into me, and my training partners allow me to train with that viciousness and kill mentality. So, come fight night, I’m definitely not looking at this as a sport. I’m looking at this as a fight, and I’m looking to go out there and finish guys whenever I can.”
Allen is as focused as he can be for this upcoming title fight, but he has not forgotten about his losses. With only two defeats on his record — in addition to Anders, Allen has lost to Trevin Giles — Allen’s desire to avenge his losses has not waned.
“A hundred percent, man. A hundred percent,” Allen said. “Now I’m just focusing to get better, and when I get to the UFC, as long as I keep winning, keep improving, and keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll get those fights back eventually.”
The UFC is often atop a fighter’s list of goals. Allen’s eyeing his own chance at the biggest organization in the world.
“I definitely hope so,” he said. “I can’t guarantee anything — anything can happen — but the two champions before me in LFA got signed by the UFC, so I’m hoping it’s the same for me, so I can go onto UFC and start doing big things there.”
With a win against Hernandez, Allen will have drastically increased his chances of being signed by the UFC.
“Obviously, I want to be the best to do this, and I also want to be able to provide for my family doing something that I love to do,” said Allen. “I don’t want to work a 9-to-5 job where you hate your job. I love to compete, I love to test myself, and at times it’s a little overbearing, but it is what it is. I’m young in this sport, I love this sport, and I’m ready to see where it’s bringing me.”
Allen is a confident man. He’s confident in his ability to defeat Hernandez and capture the LFA crown. He’s also confident the his abilities will take him to the pinnacle of the sport.
“I hope I’m in the UFC,” said Allen. “I’ve had a couple fights, a couple of big wins. Maybe a ‘Fight of the Night’ or ‘Finish of the Night’ — preferably ‘Finish of the Night’ — in my next fight will help me. But I hope I’m in the UFC by this time next year and doing big things, and the UFC looking to promote me. [It] would just be a great thing for me.”