The Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC for those in the know, snagged a middleweight in just a day. They needed someone to headline an event at the Apex, and they found their guy.
So, here’s the scoop that dropped on Thursday. Marvin Vettori, a fighter with a knack for throwing punches, had to bow out. He got injured. This meant he couldn’t face Brendan Allen (23-5) at UFC Fight Night 240. But, not all was lost.
Enter Chris Curtis (31-10, 1 NC). He stepped up to keep the middleweight main event on the calendar for April 6. The UFC tweeted this out on Friday, setting up a rematch from their December 2021 bout.
Back when they first clashed at UFC on ESPN 31, Curtis was on a hot streak. He had six wins under his belt, including a surprise victory in the Octagon. Known as “The Action Man,” he lost the first round but made a dramatic comeback in the second. He unleashed a flurry of punches and knees, taking Allen down.
Since that fight, Curtis has been doing pretty well for himself. He’s stayed above .500 in the UFC, taking down fighters like Rodolfo Vieira, Joaquin Buckley, and Marc-Andre Barriault. He’s holding his ground in the 185-pound division.
Allen, on the other hand, hasn’t let that knockout defeat slow him down. Nope. The former LFA champ, dubbed “All In,” has racked up six consecutive wins. He’s been choking out opponents left and right, climbing the middleweight ranks. Notably, he’s managed to submit top grapplers Andre Muniz and Paul Craig, the only fighter to do so.
Fast forward to UFC Fight Night 240. It’s happening at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on April 4. The main event? A rematch where Brendan Allen is itching for a win against Chris Curtis. And there’s more. The co-main event features a bantamweight battle between Norma Dumont and the former featherweight champ, Germaine de Randamie. Plus, we’ve got a 135-pound face-off between Heili Alateng and Victor Hugo Silva, and a featherweight fight with Alexander Hernandez squaring off against Damon Jackson.
So, yeah, it’s shaping up to be quite the night.