Brendan Allen submitted Christian Leroy Duncan in the fifth round of the UFC Vegas 122 main event on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The next day, training partner Belal Muhammad revealed that Allen had fought through a staph infection all fight week.
Infection Kept Quiet Until After the Fight
Belal Muhammad, a former UFC welterweight champion and training partner of Allen, said on X that Allen had been dealing with a staph infection since the Tuesday of fight week. Allen needed antibiotics before even stepping into the Octagon, and Muhammad said he still had five days left on the course after the fight.
Muhammad did not specify where the infection was located or how it affected Allen during the five-round fight with Duncan. Nothing in the fight itself hinted at the complication, which Allen kept to himself until Muhammad’s post went public.
Staph infections are a recurring concern in MMA, where cuts and shared training mats make transmission easier. Several UFC fighters have had bouts pulled for that reason in the past, which makes Allen’s decision to fight through it stand out.
Fifth-Round Finish Caps a Tough Week
Fighting at middleweight (185 lbs / 84 kg), Allen (28-7) submitted Duncan (15-3) by rear-naked choke in round five. It was his fourth straight win in the division since moving back down from light heavyweight.
The performance earned Allen a Performance of the Night bonus, his fourth in the UFC to go with two Fight of the Night awards earlier in his career. He walked away with a fourth consecutive win under compromised physical condition, against an English opponent who was also pushing for a spot near the top of the division.
Duncan came into the fight on a five-fight winning streak, most recently a decision over former title challenger Jared Cannonier in July. The Gloucester native had also strung together finishes over Eryk Anders and Marco Tulio before winning decisions against Roman Dolidze and Cannonier. The loss to Allen snapped that run.
UFC Vegas 122 was billed around its middleweight main event, with both fighters arguing for a spot closer to title contention heading into the card. Allen’s win settled that argument for now, at least until the rankings are updated.
Allen’s Path Through the Middleweight Division
Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, and now based in Delray Beach, Florida, Allen even fought under the Canadian flag at a UFC Vancouver card in October 2025, a nod to his maternal grandparents, who are from Edmonton.
Heading into UFC Vegas 122, Allen was ranked fifth at UFC middleweight. He stopped Reinier de Ridder on a corner stoppage in October 2025, then beat Edmen Shahbazyan by decision in June 2026. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Daniel Wanderley, he has 14 career wins by submission, including rear-naked choke finishes over Krzysztof Jotko, Andre Muniz, Paul Craig and Bruno Silva.
Allen’s run at 185 lbs has not been spotless. He has losses to Sean Strickland and to France’s Nassourdine Imavov, both of whom now sit near the top of the division’s rankings. Saturday’s win keeps him in that conversation despite those setbacks.
‘Never Complained, Never Made Excuses’
In his October 11 post, Belal Muhammad praised his training partner’s attitude: “Never complained, never made excuses, just found a way to win.” The former welterweight champion added that Allen still had five days of antibiotics left after the fight.
Muhammad is a regular training partner of Allen’s, and his account was the first public confirmation that Allen had been fighting hurt all week. The endorsement from a former world champion reinforced Allen’s reputation for toughness inside the UFC locker room, and it offered a retroactive explanation for why some observers felt his performance looked less sharp than his previous wins in the division.
Du Plessis Next for Allen?
After the win, Allen called out former middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis for his next fight. The UFC has not announced a date or confirmed any agreement at this stage.
The victory puts Allen back in the title conversation at middleweight, a division tracked on MMA Official’s UFC rankings page. Full results from the October 10 card are available on the UFC results page, and the full slate of upcoming cards can be found on the UFC schedule 2026 page.
A matchup with du Plessis would give Allen a chance to confirm his standing near the top of the division against a world-class opponent.
