Brendan Allen targets Strickland rematch, insisting he has outgrown the champion who beat him in 2020

Brendan Allen has called out Sean Strickland for a rematch, arguing that the UFC middleweight champion is the same fighter he faced six years ago — while Allen himself is an entirely different one.

Allen (27-7) was 25 years old when Strickland (31-7) handed him his first UFC loss in 2020. Since then, Allen has developed into a legitimate middleweight contender, while Strickland has claimed the title twice, most recently stopping Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 last month.

“He’s the same guy that I fought then, and I’m not,” Allen told Home of Fight. “Not even close to the same guy. I’m more mature, I’m older, more of a vet. I’ve been around the block a time or two. And I think I could beat him everywhere.”

Allen’s confidence has been sharpened by a recent unanimous decision win over Edmen Shahbazyan, who trains alongside Strickland. Rather than treating that victory as a stepping stone, Allen used it to make a pointed stylistic argument about the champion himself.

“I think Edmen is a better version of him. I truly do,” Allen said. “Obviously, he hasn’t beat the guys, he hasn’t had the accolades. But stylistically, I feel like he is better. He’s faster, he’s quicker. I think the only thing Sean does different is he leans backwards, which makes it awkward for whoever he fights. But technically I think Edmen is a little bit better.”

The implication is clear: if Allen can outpoint a fighter he considers technically superior to Strickland, he believes the blueprint for beating the champion already exists. Whether the UFC moves to book the rematch remains to be seen, but Allen has made his intentions public and his reasoning specific.