After news of Marvin Vettori’s injury-enforced withdrawal, a career first for the Italian on Thursday, rising middleweight contender Brendan Allen bullishly called for other top names to step into the breach on less than a month’s notice for a proposed UFC Fight Night main event on April 6. Chris Curtis, who scored a second-round stoppage at his expense in Dec. 2021, has answered the gauntlet.
2.5 years later, how much has changed?
UFC Fight Night, April 6: Brendan Allen [6] vs. Chris Curtis [14]
Former title challenger Marvin Vettori (undisc) sidelined with injury
Germaine de Randamie among others returning next month
CALL it wishful thinking, but Brendan Allen held out hope one of the division’s top-ranked contenders would accept a short-notice main event slot against him.
They’d be remunerated well for the privilege, but as former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman can attest, there’s no asterisk or contextual mark next to a defeat on your record – as competitive or debatable as it may be – he fell narrowly short over 15 minutes against Khamzat Chimaev on less than a week’s notice last October.
Allen’s riding a six-fight win streak and flowing with momentum, which includes impressive submission victories over Bruno Silva, Andre Muniz and Paul Craig.
Curtis by comparison was pushed to defend his top-15 ranking against Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 297 and would love nothing more than leapfrogging some divisional rivals by proving successful against a man he’s already beaten before.
Having regretfully withdrawn on Thursday, Vettori clearly wasn’t amused by Allen’s social media behaviour about the situation and pointedly cut a promo on him, insisting they’d fight at some stage once he’s successfully recovered.
Vettori, like many other old heads on the roster, indirectly spoke about being in a position of power as far as ranked fighters are concerned, giving someone an opportunity to make their name off him – much like former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington’s audacious response to Ian Garry this week was similar.
We’ll wait and see how much, if at all, the 185lb division shakes up before the 30-year-old returns to the Octagon and that starts in a few weeks’ time.
Picture source: Getty Images
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