On Saturday, October 10, 2026, Brendan Allen choked out Christian Leroy Duncan at 2:46 of the fifth round to win the UFC Vegas 122 main event at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The rear-naked choke moved the Brendan Allen record to 28-7 and stretched his current run to four straight wins.
The finish arrived late in a fight Duncan was making competitive on the feet, and it earned Allen a $100,000 performance bonus. For a No. 4-ranked contender who keeps saying he is close to a title shot, it was the right kind of answer.
How Allen broke Duncan in the fifth round
Duncan came in as the No. 10 middleweight, riding five straight wins and headlining a UFC card for the first time. For long stretches he looked like the sharper striker, attacking Allen’s legs with knees early and digging right hands into his midsection.
Allen’s reply was grappling. He found a takedown in round one and got to the back, though Duncan worked his way up. In round two, a Duncan teep caught Allen in the eye and referee Marc Goddard took a point. Allen then hauled Duncan down with a body lock, settled into side control, chased an arm-triangle choke and fed him elbows and short punches once the choke was blocked.
Round three tilted back toward Duncan. He scrambled out from under an Allen shot, swapped positions and finished the frame on top. Allen walked forward in the fourth and scored with a left hook and a right hand, while Duncan still slipped combinations through the guard.
The fifth looked like Duncan’s window. His jab was landing and a spinning wheel kick only just missed. Allen used a leg kick to get inside, locked his hands around the waist, dumped Duncan to the mat, climbed to the back and sank the choke for the tap.
Breaking down the Brendan Allen record at 28-7
Allen is 30, and Saturday was his 20th fight inside the UFC. Before the event, his official UFC athlete profile credited him with 14 wins by submission, six by knockout or TKO and seven on the scorecards. The Duncan choke pushes that submission tally to 15, which is the clearest single number in the Brendan Allen record.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10, 2026 | Christian Leroy Duncan | Win | Rear-naked choke, R5 2:46 |
| Jun 6, 2026 | Edmen Shahbazyan | Win | Unanimous decision |
| Oct 18, 2025 | Reinier de Ridder | Win | TKO (corner stoppage), R4 5:00 |
| Jul 19, 2025 | Marvin Vettori | Win | Unanimous decision |
| Feb 22, 2025 | Anthony Hernandez | Loss | Unanimous decision |
| Sep 28, 2024 | Nassourdine Imavov | Loss | Unanimous decision |
Read the table from the bottom up and the pattern is plain. Before those two decision losses, Allen had stacked seven wins in a row, including rear-naked chokes of Paul Craig, Bruno Silva, Andre Muniz and Krzysztof Jotko. Both defeats went the full distance, and he has not dropped a fight since.
His earlier UFC setbacks came by strikes, against Sean Strickland in November 2020 and Chris Curtis in December 2021. He later evened things with Curtis by split decision in April 2024.
The finish he leaned on Saturday has been there from the start. Allen won his UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2019 by submitting Aaron Jeffery with a first-round rear-naked choke. Our UFC Vegas 122 fight card preview framed this bout as grappler against striker, and the Brendan Allen record now shows that the grappler won that argument again.
Where Allen sits in the middleweight title picture
The UFC rankings last updated on October 3 list Sean Strickland as champion, with Khamzat Chimaev at No. 1, Dricus du Plessis at No. 2, Nassourdine Imavov at No. 3 and Allen at No. 4. Caio Borralho is No. 5. Beating the No. 10 fighter protects Allen’s place more than it lifts him over anyone.
That is the catch. Imavov, directly above him, already owns a win over Allen, and No. 8 Anthony Hernandez holds another. Two realistic routes open up: a rematch to erase one of those losses, or a straight shot at someone in the top three to settle who is next in line.
In a fight-week interview with UFC.com, Allen described himself as “just a step or two away” from title contention. Four straight wins give that claim more weight than it carried a year ago, when the Brendan Allen record still had two fresh losses at the top.
What is still unclear after UFC Vegas 122
The UFC has not announced who Allen fights next or when, so the next line in the Brendan Allen record is still blank. The promotion also has not published new rankings since the event, so any movement inside the top five is still open.
Because the bout ended inside the distance, the point Duncan lost in round two never touched a scorecard. Given how much of the standup Duncan won, a decision might have been tighter than the finish suggests. That is a fair caution for anyone reading too much into one night, even with the Brendan Allen record trending this way.
Frequently asked questions about Brendan Allen
What is Brendan Allen’s next fight?
No opponent has been announced. The UFC has not booked Allen’s next bout since his October 10, 2026 win over Christian Leroy Duncan.
What is Brendan Allen ranked in the UFC?
Allen entered UFC Vegas 122 ranked No. 4 at middleweight in the UFC rankings updated on October 3, 2026. New rankings had not been released after the event.
How many submission wins does Brendan Allen have?
Allen has 15 submission wins. His UFC profile listed 14 before UFC Vegas 122, and the rear-naked choke of Duncan added one more.
Why Allen’s next booking should be a top-three name
The Brendan Allen record now reads like a fighter who solved the problems behind his last two losses and keeps winning late. Watch whether the UFC pairs him with Imavov, Chimaev or du Plessis, because anyone outside the top three would be a step sideways. Duncan made him work for more than 22 minutes; Allen needed one clean body lock to end it.