Middleweight action on the UFC 275 preliminary card found Brendan Allen and Jacob Malkoun both looking to build on recent successes.
Malkoun entered the night having won his last two fights, after dropping his promotional debut against Phil Hawes in October 2020.
Allen, a former LFA middleweight champ, had picked up a win over the omnipresent Sam Alvey in his last outing.
It was Allen getting right after it Saturday, working his kicks including a high kick that was blocked. “All In” was the more active fighter early, and he landed a right hand inside the opening minute as well. Malkoun had his feet planted, apparently willing to stand and trade, though the emphasis early was on the standing part, with little in the way of return fire from Malkoun.
With Allen adding in a low kick, Malkoun finally changed levels for a takedown, landing it. Allen worked his way back up, but Malkoun had his back. He completed a trip from there, dragging Allen back down and getting one hook in, with Allen on top. Malkoun worked to get a second hook in, but Allen scrambled back to his feet, with Malkoun still on him, body lock in place. This time, however, it was Allen landing a throw, going straight to mount. Allen was a bit high up, which allowed Malkoun to defend, reclaim half-guard, and scramble up— but Allen briefly caught him in a guillotine.
An active opening round with some fun grappling sequences finished with Malkoun working from the back with Allen up against the fence.
Allen opened the second with a low kick followed by a right hand. He continued to mix up his strikes in the opening minute, while Malkoun answered with his jab. It took all of 90 seconds for Malkoun to pursue the takedown this time; Allen fought off the initial attempt, but didn’t stay upright for long.
This time, Allen briefly clamped down with a closed guard, with his back to the fence. Malkoun passed into half-guard, and went body-head before threatening to mount. Allen gave up his back to scramble up, but was taken back down.
It was Allen landing a takedown in the opening seconds of round three, but he couldn’t keep Malkoun down for more than a moment. Allen hit the mark with a jab, but Malkoun doubled up on his own. Malkoun than pursued a singe-leg takedown, which Allen almost escaped from before slipping. He was back up in a flash, however, but still had to contend with Malkoun taking the back — a familiar sight throughout the bout. Malkoun put Allen on his back again, working from half-guard. Allen scrambled, got to a knee, and managed to reverse position. Allen wound up high up, on top, and dropped a few elbows. Malkoun was active off his back, but Allen used an overhook to control his opponent and float around on top.
Eventually, Allen wound up back in guard with a minute or so left to work. Malkoun tried to roll to his hip to escape out, only for Allen to block that attempt. Allen would finish on top, in a fight that had been pretty close across three rounds.
Official Result: Brendan Allen def. Jabob Malkoun by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
