Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland criticized Brendan Allen‘s split decision win over Chris Curtis, suggesting that Curtis, despite being out of shape and underprepared, should have won the fight.
Sean Strickland wasn’t exactly wowed by Brendan Allen’s split decision victory over Chris Curtis. He thought his teammate, Curtis, deserved to win. And that’s despite Curtis stepping in at the last minute.
Strickland, a former UFC middleweight champion, has a bit of history with Allen. He’s got a stoppage win over him. So, he had some thoughts on Allen’s UFC Vegas 90 main event win.
Curtis, by the way, is one of Strickland’s main training buddies at Xtreme Couture. Strickland shared some insider info about Curtis’ short camp before his rematch with Allen.
Strickland tweeted, “UFC filmed Curt, I did one round of sparring with him and let him win.” He added, “The camera crew was confused because they know me.” He went on, “I said ‘if I spar him remotely hard he will lose all confidence going into this fight he’s so out of shape.'”
“No excuses but take zero pride in this victory,” Strickland concluded.
Curtis was a last-minute stand-in for Marvin Vettori, who was injured. Curtis, aka “The Action Man,” was the last guy to beat Allen. He knocked him out in the second round in December 2021. But he couldn’t pull off a second win over Allen this time around.
Strickland also responded to a fan who praised Curtis’ performance. Especially considering what Strickland said about Curtis’ training camp.
“He was so out of shape and underprepared for this fight.. and still won..” Strickland tweeted. He added, “You don’t say no to the UFC lol every UFC fighter knows that.. They say jump you say how high lmao.” He ended with, “Shoulda finished high school lmao!”
After his win, Allen called out current middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis. But he also wants a rematch with Strickland. Strickland beat Allen with a second-round TKO at UFC Vegas 14 in November 2020.