It wasn’t easy, but Brendan Allen got one back against Chris Curtis.
In the UFC Fight Night 240 main event, Allen (24-5 MMA, 12-2 UFC) defeated Curtis (31-11 MMA, 5-3 UFC) by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The fight was closely contested throughout and most took place in kickboxing range. Allen found some success with his grappling and submission attempts, but was unable to configure anything significant.
Curtis, even when outboxed in sequences, seemed to always rebound with bigger and harder shots. He hurt Allen on multiple occasions in the latter half of the fight. Allen hung tough, however, and ate what Curtis served up, including a big knee in Round 5.
In the final seconds, both fighters were exhausted. As they rose up from a scramble, Curtis appeared to suffer a right leg injury and was stretchered away from the cage following the reading of the official decision.
The first fight between Curtis and Allen took place in December 2021. Curtis won that meeting by second-round TKO. The rematch Saturday was made on less than one month’s notice after Marvin Vettori withdrew from his scheduled bout vs. Allen.
With the victory, Allen has won seven fights in a row. He called for a title shot against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis during his in-cage interview with commentator Michael Bisping.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 240 results include:
- Brendan Allen def. Chris Curtis via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46)
- Damon Jackson def. Alexander Hernandez via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Chepe Mariscal def. Morgan Charriere via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Ignacio Bahamondes def. Christos Giagos via TKO (head kick) – Round 1, 3:34
- Charlie Campbell def. Trevor Peek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Alex Morono def. Court McGee via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lukasz Brzeski def. Valter Walker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Norma Dumont def. Germaine de Randamie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Victor Hugo def. Pedro Falcao via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jean Matsumoto def. Dan Argueta via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:59
- Cesar Almeida def. Dylan Budka via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:13
- Nora Cornolle def. Melissa Mullins via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:06
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 240.
