Brendan Allen and Andre Muniz found themself in an impromptu middleweight main event at UFC Vegas 70 on Saturday night after the broadcast team revealed that the originally scheduled main event between Ryan Spann and Nikita Krylov was scrapped with the former coming down with food poisoning.
Both fighters walked into the bout with winning streaks on the line. Brendan Allen entered the contest winning his last three matches inside the Octagon. Not to be outdone, Muniz entered riding a nine-fight win streak dating back to 2017 before he debuted with the UFC. Muniz also put his spot as the No. 11 ranked middleweight on the line against the currently unranked Allen.
The first round saw both fighters landing big strikes throughout. Andre Muniz did attempt to take things to the ground with a single leg, but Allen defended perfectly and stayed upright. Allen caught Muniz early with a big left hand that knocked him back against the fence, but Allen was unable to capitalize as Muniz recovered quickly.
Neither man gained a significant advantage in the first round, but Muniz looked to change that in the second with a takedown attempt, but Allen was able to reverse position and end up on top with three minutes to go in the round. With a minute to go, Allen smoothly transitioned to side mount where he maintained control, dropping the occasional elbow until the round came to a close.
The third round saw both fighters keep things on their feet in the opening minutes. Muniz began to land some solid strikes. Allen worked to counter but was unable to land anything as powerful as the opposition. With two minutes to go, Muniz threw a body kick that Allen caught and used it to slam Muniz to the mat, immediately taking side control. Allen transitioned to mount and began fishing for an arm triangle. Muniz gave up his back in defense allowing Allen to lock in both hooks and cinch his arm under Muniz’s chin forcing the tap out.
Official Result: Brendan Allen def. Andre Muniz via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:25 of Round 3