UFC Vegas 122: Brendan Allen submits Christian Leroy Duncan in the fifth round

[Teal Shannon]

Brendan Allen submitted Christian Leroy Duncan with a rear naked choke at 2:46 of the fifth round, Cageside Press reports. It was the main event at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Duncan had come in on a five fight winning streak, headlining for the first time. Allen has now won four in a row

Duncan started aggressively, which gave Allen openings to land an uppercut. Allen then took him down. In the second round, Duncan lost a point for an eye poke after Allen had warned the referee about his finger position. Allen controlled most of the second and third rounds on the ground

Duncan had a good spell late in the third round, reversing position and landing ground and pound. But Allen kept up the pressure in the fourth, with Duncan behind on the scorecards after the point deduction. In the fifth, Allen took him down from a bodylock and locked in the choke. Duncan refused to tap until he was forced to

After the fight, Allen called out the champion, according to Low Kick MMA. He named Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis. He added that if they did not want the fight, they should go ahead and vacate. That is a bold callout, given Strickland's pay dispute with the UFC that we covered last week

It was a tough night for Duncan, but he will learn a lot from it. Grappling was always going to be the danger against Allen, as we said in the weigh in thread. On the undercard, Jai Herbert beat Matheus Camilo in the co-main, Loopy Godinez beat Ketlen Souza and Andre Fili knocked out Kai Kamaka III with a head kick. Ernesta Kareckaite and Melissa Gatto fought to a draw after a point deduction

Has Brendan Allen earned a title shot? And how do you see Duncan bouncing back from this?

UFC Vegas 122: Brendan Allen Sinks In Late Choke, Taps Christian Leroy Duncancagesidepress.com