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#4 UFC Middleweight Division: Brendan Allen vs. Kyle Daukaus

Prospect Brendan Allen will be looking for his third UFC win this weekend

Initially, this Middleweight fight would’ve seen Allen facing off with the highly ranked Ian Heinisch, but with ‘The Hurricane’ sidelined with an injury, he’ll face UFC newcomer Daukaus instead. And sure, while there’s no name value to the fight now, this could actually be a really good clash between two excellent young prospects.

Allen came into the UFC in 2019 after a win on Dana White’s Contender Series, and immediately made a splash by choking out veteran Kevin Holland. It was his second fight though – a first round TKO of the tough and technical Tom Breese – that really opened eyes.

Fighting out of the Roufusport camp, ‘All In’ is explosive, clearly hits hard, and appears to have a decent ground game too. Sure, he has some losses on his record during his pre-UFC days, but given that he’s only 24 years old, and his last loss came when he was 22, it’s fair to say he’s still got plenty of time to develop.

The fact that he’s not been finished by strikes yet – and went the distance in a loss to heavy hitter Eryk Anders – is also promising.

Daukaus is also a veteran of the Contender Series, as he picked up a decision win there in 2019 but wasn’t immediately signed by the UFC. At 9-0 he’s less experienced than Allen, but he’s also unbeaten, and has finished 8 of his wins via submission, particularly favouring the rare brabo choke. Despite being a low-percentage move, Daukaus has won with it 5 times.

Judging by what I’ve seen from both men – which admittedly isn’t all that much – I’d favour Allen slightly in this one. ‘All In’ is seemingly a better striker, and while Daukaus appears to be an excellent grappler, I’m not sure he’ll have a full advantage on the ground as Allen appears to be equally capable with 8 tapouts to his name, too.

Add in the fact that Allen has UFC experience – perhaps not as big a deal during these behind-closed-doors shows – and that Daukaus is taking the fight on pretty late notice, and it’s hard not to suspect that ‘All In’ can pull off his third straight win. I’ll take him to win via a late TKO stoppage.

The Pick: Allen via third round TKO