Brendan Allen had his hands full on Saturday night at the Meta Apex as he took on Christian Leroy Duncan in a five round war. Duncan was younger and had serious momentum coming into their Las Vegas showdown, but Allen managed to pull out a fifth round submission to secure the win (watch highlights here).
That victory is all the more impressive now after his teammate and former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad revealed that Allen was suffering from a serious staph infection.
“What people don’t know is Brendan was dealing with a staph infection since Tuesday of fight week,” Muhammad wrote. “Had to get on antibiotics, still has 5 days left on them, and despite all that adversity, went out there and got the finish.”
“Never complained, never made excuses, just found a way to win,” Belal concluded. “That’s the heart of a champion. Proud of my brother.”
Video posted by Muhammad showed Allen stiff legged and walking gingerly, along with a picture of the UFC middleweight at a hospital’s emergency check-in. In comments under his original post, Muhammad describes the staph as “a hole in his back,” and further NSFW images prove it was indeed a gnarly case of staph.
Staph infections suck the life and energy out of you, and the antibiotics they put you on to clear the staph are even worse. So it’s extra impressive that Brendan Allen was able to keep up with Christian Leroy Duncan for 22 minutes and 46 seconds, right up to the point he sunk in a rear naked choke and tapped his opponent out.