JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bruno Silva isn’t sure why Brendan Allen is disappointed with the matchup against him.
Silva (23-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) faces Allen (21-5 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 5 main card opener. The event takes place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena with the main card airing on ABC after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Allen took issue with the matchmakers giving him unranked Silva after amassing a four-fight winning streak. Silva says submitting Andre Muniz is what jolted Allen up the middleweight standings, but before that, he wasn’t established.
“Who was Brendan Allen before he fought Andre Muniz?,” Silva told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter Wednesday at UFC on ABC 5 media day. “Basically he wasn’t ranked before and he fought him, he won. I don’t pick opponents, I don’t choose opponents. I was asked to fight ‘Poatan’ and I fought Alex Pereira. I was asked to fight Brad Tavares, I was there.
“I’m fighting Brendan Allen, I’m here. I haven’t gotten to the point where I refuse matchups or anything of this sort. As far as being famous, I don’t care who’s famous that I’m fighting. I just want to win and continue to win. I just want to fight and to win. Who am I to complain about opponents or anybody else? He wasn’t ranked before so why is he complaining?”
In his most recent outing, Silva snapped a two-fight losing skid with a first-round TKO of Brad Tavares at UFC Fight Night 222 in April.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
