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Paul Craig books UFC Vegas 82 headliner against Brendan Allen in November main event fight

Off the back of his impressive middleweight divisional bow against Andre Muniz at UFC London back in July, Scottish grappling ace, Paul Craig will continue his tenure at 185lbs – booking his first headliner under the banner of the promotion in a headliner on November 18. against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 82. Craig, who […]

Craig, who landed at the middleweight limit at UFC London back in July, managed to scoop the number thirteen rank in the weight class with his victory over Muniz – defeating the Brazilian with a slew of second round ground elbows. The win also earned Craig a Performance of the Night bonus to boot.

In the midst of a stunning five-fight winning run recently, number ten ranked middleweight contender, Allen most recently submitted Brazilian contender, Bruno Silva at UFC Jacksonville back in June – racking up his stunning thirteenth career submission win. November’s clash with Paul Craig will come as Brendan Allen’s second in a headlining bracket, having himself submitted the aforenoted, Muniz back in February.

Paul Craig books premiere headliner against Brendan Allen

The official UFC Europe account on social media platform, X, confirmed the headlining fight between Criag and Allen this Tuesday afternoon.

“Main event!” UFC Eupore posted. “@PaulCraig gets a five rounder against @BrendanAllenMMA at #UFCVEgas82!”

Snapping a two-fight losing skid at the light heavyweight limit in his July return in the capital, Paul Craig had suffered back-to-back losses against Volkan Oezdemir, as well last Johnny Walker – the latter of which back in January in a trip to Brazil for the Airdrie native.

17-6-1 as a professional, during his tenure at the light heavyweight limit, grappling specialist, Criag had landed victories over the likes of Magomed Ankalaev, Kennedy Nzechukwu, Shogun Rua, Jamahal Hill, and Nikita Krylov to name a few.

As part of his stunning five-fight winning spree, Allen has also defeated the likes of the above-mentioned SIlva and Muniz, as well as Krzysztof Jotko – and holds a middleweight division win over Kevin Holland to boot.

Ranked UFC fighter claims Bo Nickal would ‘destroy’ Paul Craig in potential clash: ‘He’s f*cking terrible’

Top-15-ranked lightweight Renato Moicano believes Paul Craig is biting off more than he can chew by challenging fast-rising prospect Bo Nickal. ‘Bearjew’ made his middleweight debut on Saturday night as part of a stacked UFC London card inside the iconic O2 Arena. Craig scored himself a solid second-round TKO against BJJ specialist Andre Muniz and […]

Top-15-ranked lightweight Renato Moicano believes Paul Craig is biting off more than he can chew by challenging fast-rising prospect Bo Nickal.

‘Bearjew’ made his middleweight debut on Saturday night as part of a stacked UFC London card inside the iconic O2 Arena. Craig scored himself a solid second-round TKO against BJJ specialist Andre Muniz and proceeded to put the rest of the middleweight division on notice. That included callouts of world-class wrestler Bo Nickal and undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev.

Craig insisted that Nickal would play directly into his grapple-heavy game plan before telling members of the media that Chimaev would “get triangled” if he attempted a takedown in their hypothetical showdown. Most fight fans chalked up Craig’s comments to clout-chasing, but Moicano believes that ‘Bearjew’ could live to regret those words.

How crazy is that…. Paul Craig top game is terrible…. #UFCLondon

— Renato Moicano UFC (@moicanoufc) July 22, 2023

Renato Moicano Unloads on Paul Craig

Speaking on his YouTube channel. Moicano laid into Craig, suggesting that the Scottish standout is “f*cking terrible.”

“Paul Craig. Man, Paul Craig is terrible. I know you guys gonna roast me for saying that, but he’s f*cking terrible,” Moicano said. “Even his top position in the first round, he got reversed very easily. I think what happened in this fight is ‘Sergipano’ is a jiu-jitsu player, too, so he sat in the guard and stuff.

“But Paul Craig’s standup is terrible. He was talking about Bo Nickal. Bo Nickal would destroy him. Khamzat would destroy him,” Moicano continued. “I know you guys like that kind of stuff, but let me tell you something, he’s terrible… Make no mistake, he’s terrible” (h/t MMA News).

After reaching the No. 9 spot in the light heavyweight rankings, Paul Craig hit a couple of brick walls at 205 named Volkan Oezdemir and Johnny Walker. Ready for a change of scenery, ‘Bearjew’ made the drop to 185 and looked quite good doing so on Saturday night. Taking out the middleweight division’s No. 14 ranked fighter, Craig expects to see his name in the top 15 shortly and plans on ascending to the top of the division within the next five years.

A fight with Bo Nickal is certainly within the realm of possibility considering they are both relatively new to the UFC’s middleweight division, but Paul Craig has some work cut out for him if he wants to share the Octagon with Khamzat Chimaev someday.

Paul Craig confident of submission win over UFC star Khamzat Chimaev: ‘There’s a good chance he’d get triangle’d’

Off the back of his impressive second round win over Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Andre Muniz over the weekend at UFC London, Scottish grappler, Paul Craig has claimed he would likely land a submission win over Khamzat Chimaev, as well as calling out the undefeated, Bo Nickal. Snapping a two-fight losing skid to both […]

Off the back of his impressive second round win over Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Andre Muniz over the weekend at UFC London, Scottish grappler, Paul Craig has claimed he would likely land a submission win over Khamzat Chimaev, as well as calling out the undefeated, Bo Nickal.

Snapping a two-fight losing skid to both Volkan Oezdemir, and Johnny Walker, the latter of which at the beginning of the year at UFC 283 in Brazil, Craig made a middleweight divisional bow over the weekend at The O2 Arena.

And snapping his losing run, Craig, who is likely set to land a ranking in the top-15 of the middleweight division come the release of the rankings update tomorrow, forced a second round stoppage win over fellow grappling talent, Muniz, laying waste to the Brazilian with a slew of ground elbow strikes for a TKO success.

Off the back of his win, Craig welcomed the prospect of fighting recent winner, Nickal, who has so far enjoyed a stunning run throughout his brief tenure under the UFC banner.

Paul Craig plots submission win over the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev

And as far as a potential future pairing with the undefeated, Chimaev in the future, Craig claimed he would be confident of submitting the Chechen-born finisher if they shared the Octagon.

“Everybody in middleweight’s got an opportunity to fight me,” Paul Craig told assembled media after UFC London. “If it is Khamzat (Chimaev) and he takes me down, there’s a good chance that he’s going to get triangle’d. My Jiu-Jitsu, I never had faith in my Jiu-Jitsu and it’s starting to build up.”

“People say, ‘Paul’s got good Jiu-Jitsu,’ but you always doubt your abilities,” Paul Craig explained. “This fight here, was one of the ones where I was like, ‘Right, if I’m a Jiu-Jitsu guy, I must be able to defend and I must be able to attack and I must be able to win [this] fight.’ I’m a Jiu-Jitsu guy who is dangerous in MMA.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

As for Chimaev, the AllStars MMA staple is slated to make his return at UFC 294 in October, making a middleweight divisional return against former title chaser, Paulo Costa – whom he claimed he would make “cry’ inside the Octagon.

Paul Craig calls for clash with Bo Nickal following successful middleweight debut at UFC London

After making a successful middleweight debut at UFC London, Paul Craig has his sights set on a clash with world-class wrestler Bo Nickal. ‘Bearjew’ gave the raucous crowd inside London’s world-famous O2 Arena something to cheer about, scoring a second-round TKO against Andre Muniz. The bout was very reminiscent of Paul Craig’s work at 205, […]

After making a successful middleweight debut at UFC London, Paul Craig has his sights set on a clash with world-class wrestler Bo Nickal.

‘Bearjew’ gave the raucous crowd inside London’s world-famous O2 Arena something to cheer about, scoring a second-round TKO against Andre Muniz. The bout was very reminiscent of Paul Craig’s work at 205, seeing the fighter find himself in a bit of trouble before rallying and ultimately using his impeccable ground game to get the job done against a tough Brazilian foe.

Once the UFC’s return to The Big Smoke was in the books, Paul Craig joined Din Thomas, Laura Sanko, and Karyn Bryant on the UFC London post-fight show to discuss his big win and what may come next. During the conversation, ‘Bearjew’ revealed that he is by no means done with light heavyweight, but hopes to work his way into the middleweight division’s top 15 before potentially venturing back to 205.

“What I want to do is be in the top 15. I’m No. 9 in the light heavyweight [division] and that journey’s not over,” Craig said. “I’m the only guy with a victory over the ex-champion Jahamal Hill and [Magomed] Ankalaev, the other top guys in this division. I believe I can still hang with those guys. If I move back up from middleweight to light heavyweight, there will be a more scientific approach like me coming down to middleweight.”

PAUL CRAIG ELBOWS FOR THE MIDDLWEIGHT DEBUT WIN #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/KDAQFzH9tO

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 22, 2023

Paul Craig wants Bo Nickal Next

As for who he wants next at middleweight, Paul Craig called out none other than Bo Nickal, a fast-rising and undefeated middleweight prospect.

“As a middleweight, I kinda like Bo Nickal,” Craig continued. “Nobody wants to fight him, but if he takes me down, he better be very good at passing guard because I’m very good at retaining guard.”

Asked why he has Nickal in his sights, Craig admitted the appeal was in part due to Nickal’s name recognition, but he also believes that Nickal’s wrestle-heavy style of fighting will play right into his own game plan.

“He’s a name and he can play into my game plan,” Craig said. “He gets in tight and takes me down, it just fits me better.”

Bo Nickal is coming off his fifth-straight win since beginning his mixed martial arts career in 2022. Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I national champion, scored back-to-back submissions on Dana White’s Contender Series last year before making his promotional debut. He added another submission to his resume, finishing Jamie Pickett in the first round of their UFC 285 matchup.

Most recently, Nickal scored a 38-second KO against UFC debutant Val Woodburn at UFC 290 earlier this month.

Paul Craig grounds out Andre Muniz with nasty elbow knockout in middleweight bow – UFC London Highlights

Returning to the winner’s enclosure in his middleweight divisional bow, Scottish grappler, Paul Craig has turned in another stoppage under the banner of the UFC, landing an eventual second round ground elbows TKO win over Brazilian grappler, Andre Muniz in a main card pairing. Making his middleweight divisional bow following a pair of back-to-back losses […]

Making his middleweight divisional bow following a pair of back-to-back losses to both Volkan Oezdemir and Johnny Walker in his two most recent outings, Airdrie native, Craig is likely set to earn a spot in the top-15 of the middleweight pile come Tuesday and the new ranking updates, laying waste to Dana White’s Contender Series product, Muniz tonight.

Scrambling with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace in a grappling-heavy second round exchange, Craig swept the Brazilian before backing him to the fence, and laying down a slew of ground elbows, eventually turning in a TKO stoppage victory.

Below, catch the highlights from Paul Craig’s win at UFC London

Paul Craig offers to fight ex-Champion Alex Pereira in UFC clash: ‘That gets my plums going’

UFC grappling ace, Paul Craig has offered to fight former undisputed middleweight champion, Alex Pereira next – claiming a showdown with the Brazilian knockout ace, who believes is more than a novice on the ground, gets his “plums going”. Craig, who currently holds the #9 rank in the official light heavyweight pile, has confirmed earlier […]

Craig, who currently holds the #9 rank in the official light heavyweight pile, has confirmed earlier this month that he intends to test middleweight waters off the back of a successful test weight-cut to the lower division.

As for Pereira, the former middleweight kingpin, who dropped his undisputed crown to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 last month in Miami, Florida – will pass Scottish grappler, Craig – with the Sao Paulo striker expected to compete at light heavyweight his Octagon return next.

Paul Craig offers to fight Alex Pereira in light heavyweight bow

However, in search of a next opponent off the back of consecutive defeats to both Volkan Oezdemir, and Johnny Walker in his last two fights, Airdrie native, Craig offered to fight former duel-weight GLORY Kickboxing champion, Pereira.

“I’ve been speaking to my agent last night, and the questions they [UFC] asked were, ‘What do you wanna do? You wanna fight at light heavyweight or middleweight?’ I said, ‘Tell me what you want.’” Paul Craig said on the Leather’d podcast. “Where does Mick Maynard – the matchmaker, where does he want me. I’m a company guy. Tell me who to fight and I’ll fight him.”

Now, I’m looking for a nice fight – a fight that gets me plums going,” Paul Craig explained. ‘I’m looking for something that interests me fight-wise. That’s a fight I’ll take a light heavyweight, a hundred percent, (Alex) Pereira. I’d like that. I don’t rate his Jiu-Jitsu.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

Without a victory since submission win over Nikita Krylov back in March of last year at UFC Fight Night London, Craig also holds a first round stoppage win over current undisputed light heavyweight champion, Jamahal Hill.