Although Brendan Allen admits taking his UFC Vegas 47 fight on 3 days’ notice was a serious risk, he says he needed to compete and score a quick payday to help out family members in some tough financial times.
On Feb. 5, Allen (18-5) scored a bounce-back victory over UFC veteran Sam Alvey inside the UFC APEX, in Las Vegas, Nev. The bout was his first since a setback against Chris Curtis two months earlier. However, he did not head into his fight with a camp’s worth of preparation to get back in the win column. No, “All-In” took the matchup on just 3 days’ notice after Alvey’s original opponent Phil Hawes dropped out due to an injury.
For a young fighter like Allen, 26, back-to-back losses could have been detrimental to his future in the UFC. And he revealed that going into the bout he was nowhere near fighting shape for a scrap with a tough and durable talent like Alvey.
Brendan Allen on short notice win at UFC Vegas 47: ‘I was definitely not the shape I would be in for a fight’
“[I was] definitely not the shape I would be in for a fight. That was the risk for me. Seeing if my cardio would hold up. Luckily I knew Sam was a guy that would keep his back against the cage most of the time so I could dictate the pace. There was concern there,” Allen told Sportsnaut.
“It was kind of weird [too]. People still expected me to win even though I was fighting on three days’ notice. The betting odds were behind me, and I was just like, I haven’t trained, I haven’t done anything,” he added. “I trained a week before that fight just because I was helping out some teammates at Sanford [MMA]. But other than that, that was the first time I sparred since the fight with Curtis.”
Fighters taking short-notice bookings in MMA is not at all uncommon. Some competitors like the chance to make a quick buck and right the wrong of loss without having to face the mental analysis throughout a fight camp. However, Allen didn’t take the bout to add a five-figure payday to his bank account. Instead, he jumped into the fight out of personal responsibility to aid some family members in midst of difficult days.
Brendan Allen explains 3-days notice booking was to help family with financial problems
“I think for me it was more financially, I just needed to gain more financial stability for my family. Not so much me but the rest of my family,” Allen explained. “There was just things outside of my control kind of happened and I felt it was my responsibility to take care of this time, and with the job that I have, and how things are, it just felt like it all was all right. It was a roll of the dice, but I knew win or lose I was gonna get paid. It is what it is.”
Although he could not go deep into the details of the monetary ills his relatives were going through, he is thankful to have a vocation where a quick and sizable payday can be had. And in the end, it was a gamble that paid off in a second-round submission win and his family now being in a far better place financially.
“I guess the [gist] of it is things happened and suddenly bills popped up and they had to get paid some way or another. I felt it was my responsibility to take control of that, and I feel I have all the opportunities to do that with the job that I have,” said Allen. “So I asked my manager if he could get me a fight, and how soon it could be, and it just happened to be that one. So I jumped at the opportunity. It was a gamble and luckily it came up in my favor. Now, everything good and it’s on to the next.”
After his victory earlier this month, the Dana White’s Contender Series contract winner moved his record to 6-2 inside the Octagon.