Brendan Allen Addresses Damian Pinas Callout Ahead of UFC Vegas 122

UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen has responded to recent callouts from rising prospect Damian Pinas, acknowledging the ambition of the division's newer generation while maintaining that top matchups must be earned. Allen is scheduled to face Christian Leroy Duncan in the main event of UFC Vegas 122 this Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Pinas called out Allen following a quick knockout victory over Andrey Pulyaev at UFC 332, which pushed his octagon record to 3-0 following a previous win against Cesar Almeida. Allen, who enters Saturday's headliner on a three-fight winning streak and remains in the title conversation, told MMA Fighting that he understands why surging fighters look to target him.

"We knew it was going to come one day as long as I kept doing my thing," Allen told MMA Fighting. "I mean, hey, hats off to them, but also you have to think of the position that they’re in. They fight, they get experience to fight someone like me. No one else is top 5 in the world fighting out of the rankings, so that’s where my name pops off to the hat."

Allen also laughed off claims that social media callouts agitate him, noting that fighters with limited UFC experience must remain grounded. "Multiple guys say like, 'Oh, he gets mad,' or how can you tell if someone gets mad on Instagram?," Allen said. "I’m calling you bro, you can’t get me mad.

Like I said, hats off to those guys, but they’re three fights in. I think, for me, I was young and I was trying to reach for the stars every now and then, but I tried to keep it in perspective of what I could realistically get."