Brendan Allen admits low social media profile is costing him bigger UFC fights

Brendan Allen has 15 UFC wins, three consecutive victories, and a highlight-reel stoppage of Reinier de Ridder on his résumé — and he is still trying to figure out why none of it has moved the needle on his popularity. The 30-year-old middleweight returns to the main event of UFC Vegas 122 this Saturday against Christian Leroy Duncan, a booking that surprised him after his win over Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 118 in June had many expecting a top-six matchup.

“I was kind of told why it was this way,” Allen told MMA Fighting. “Nobody really was available, this was the best guy that was ready to go. They said I could fight in December, but it wasn’t guaranteed, and they know I like to stay active. If I don’t fight, I don’t make money, so, go get this check. Hopefully get this win, and then we can communicate about the rest later — but kids got to eat.”

The Duncan fight will be Allen’s fourth in 15 months, a workload that puts him among the most active fighters in the middleweight division. Yet as he watches peers with larger social media followings land bigger bouts and sponsorship deals, Allen has a clear-eyed view of how the UFC business actually works.

“There’s many guys that have gotten bigger fights they shouldn’t have got based off of their talent, or their merit as far as fighting-wise, but they get it because they have a big social media following,” he said. “More eyes mean more money — that’s the business.”

Allen is candid about where he falls in that equation. “My social media is super low. People don’t really say much about me unless it’s shit,” he said. “I definitely think I’d have bigger opportunities if I had a bigger following, but I don’t know — I’m just not that likable guy, I guess, so it is what it is.”

The self-assessment is not entirely a complaint. Allen describes himself as a family man who competes to provide for his children, and there is a part of him that values the relative privacy that comes with a lower public profile. Still, the gap between his accomplishments and his standing in the division’s pecking order is not lost on him as he prepares to face Duncan in what he hopes will be a springboard to the matchups his record arguably already warrants.