Brazilian Contender Series veteran John Allan gets his shot at the big stage at UFC Sacramento this weekend.
The UFC is coming to Sacramento, California, on July 13 in the Golden 1 Center. The card is set with Aspen Ladd vs. Germaine de Randamie headlining the card. UFC Sacramento also has the return of Urijah Faber who will take on the rising Ricky Simon. The event also holds many action-first fighters and a few rising up-and-comers. On that card, Gian Villante was scheduled to take on Mike Rodriguez. Villante would be pulled from the card for unknown reasons and the UFC signed Brazilian John Allan to take his place.
How Will John Allan Fare in the UFC:
John Allan trains out of Chute Boxe, which means he’s going to be a technical fighter with dangerous Muay Thai. He has a good jab and hard leg kicks but he doesn’t utilize them as much as he should. Allan does get a bit wild, throwing looping hooks and not really picking his shots, and that’s allowed him to get tagged and dropped a few times in the past. The Brazilian hits hard but his speed and explosiveness are lacking. In terms of wrestling, grappling, takedown defense, and grappling defense, he is just average. He has three submissions but don’t expect him to hit any at a higher level. His takedown defense needs a lot of work and his defense off his back is stationary for the most part. Allan has a tendency to lose positions on the mat and that is part of the reason he has four losses by submission.
How John Allan Matches Up with Mike Rodriguez:
Rodriguez is 1-1 in the UFC with his debut loss to Devin Clark and his win coming against Adam Milstead. His takedown defense is by far his biggest weakness as shown in his fight with Clark. He looked much better, though, when putting away Milstead. Allan isn’t a wrestler, so I think this is a very good matchup for Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a tall, rangy guy with a 7.5″ reach advantage. He should keep the Muay Thai fighter in his range and his speed should be a big factor.
