Another middleweight showdown looks to be heading to the octagon in June.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a bout between Brendan Allen and Jacob Malkoun is being targeted for UFC 275. The event takes place June 11 at a location and venue yet to be made official, although Singapore has been a leading candidate to host the event.
Allen subsequently revealed the bout on social media, but sources tell MMA Fighting that verbal agreements are in place and contracts have yet to be signed. “All-In” returns to the middleweight division after a short stint at light heavyweight, where he stepped in on short notice to face Sam Alvey at UFC Vegas 47 in February. Allen submitted Alvey in the second round to bounce back in the win column following a TKO loss to Chris Curtis two-months prior.
After suffering a vicious KO loss in his octagon debut to Phil Hawes at UFC 254 in October 2020, Malkoun picked up consecutive decision wins over Abdul Razak Alhassan and AJ Dobson. The 26-year-old is slated to join teammate Robert Whittaker on the card, who is set to face Marvin Vettori.
UFC 275 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka, while Valentina Shevchenko puts her flyweight title on the line against Taila Santos in the co-main event.