A fight will go down Saturday night at UFC Fight Night Santos Vs Teixeira that has been brewing for a couple of years. Even before Ian Heinisch and Brendan Allen set foot in the UFC they had their eyes on each other back when they both fought under the LFA promotion.
HEINISCH vs ALLEN! #UFCVegas13 is LIVE and FREE TOMORROW on @ESPN and ESPN+ at 10pm ET pic.twitter.com/Aw9glrYtAf
— danawhite (@danawhite) November 6, 2020
Since then Heinisch won the LFA middleweight title and after winning a bout on the Contender Series has had a pretty good start to his UFC run with wins over Cezar Ferreira, Antonio Carlos Junior, and Gerald Meerschaert. Those wins compiled with a winning record have him more ready than ever for this fight. Also, with a scheduled bout between the two being scrapped back in the summer, Heinisch is eager to settle this one
”We have exchanged words from LFA to now in the UFC. He is on a little hot streak but I have this mission in my head and it is Hurricane 2.0,” Heinisch said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I’m much more comfortable in the cage, I know where I belong. It takes a lot to get ranked in the UFC, let alone make that run for a belt. I’m finally falling into my own and the new version of me has come out. I feel like I will destroy anyone in my path and Brendan Allen is in my way.”
For Allen the streaking 24-year-old prospect it’s been a hot start to his UFC run. After earning a contract on the Contender Series like his foe, Allen scored a second-round submission win over Kevin Holland in his debut, he followed that up four months later with a first-round stoppage win over Tom Breese. When Heinisch was forced out of their initial meeting at the end of June, Allen stayed on the card and scored a unanimous decision victory over debuting Kyle Daukaus, handing the unbeaten prospect the first loss of his professional career.
Allen is not taking any time looking back on what’s he’s done so far in little under a year with the UFC.
”It’s cool to see those things, but I don’t pay any attention to it,” he said of the three strong performances that carry him into Saturday’s meeting with Heinisch in Las Vegas. “It doesn’t mean anything to me right now. Every fight is my biggest fight, no matter whom it’s against and it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. I guess it’s cool, but honestly, I don’t really care. It’s done, it’s happened, and it has no impact on my life.”
Allen enters the bout with a pro record of 15-3 (3-0 UFC) riding a 7 fight winning streak and the betting line has Allen closing at (-115 near even).
Heinisch enters the bout with a pro record of 14-3 (3-2 UFC) riding a 1 fight winning streak and the betting has Heinisch closing at (-105 near even).
My prediction: The opening round starts with both men looking to find their distance with Heinisch eventually shooting for a takedown, and after a little resistance gets it but finds himself in trouble with Allen throwing up many subs off his back until it goes back to the feet. The rest of the round plays out with Allen landing some good body shots and boxing combos to edged the round. The second round sees some clinch work early from Allen with some good knees to the body, about a minute or so in Heinisch starts to pick up the pace and lands some big boxing combos as he breaks from the clinch with good knees to the body, while there are some good returns from Allen the better work from Heninish as he steals round 2. Round 3 sees both men standing at kickboxing range with Allen getting the better of the exchanges. Heinisch realizing the fight is slipping away shoots for a sloppy takedown and gets caught in a guillotine choke until he’s forced to tap late in round 3 for the winner by 3rd round Submission Via Guillotine Choke Brendan Allen.
