Preview: UFC on ABC 5 ‘Emmett vs. Topuria’

Middleweights

#13 MW | Brendan Allen (21-5, 9-2 UFC) vs. Bruno Silva (23-8, 4-2 UFC)

ODDS: Allen (-180), Silva (+155)

This should result in a barnburner, as both of these middleweights excel through chaos. Despite being just 24 years old when he made his UFC debut back in 2019, Allen had already put together a strong regional resume. That experience paid off in short order, as “All In” was able to take out Kevin Holland, Tom Breese and Kyle Daukaus thanks to his aggressive style. Allen then hit a hard wall against Sean Strickland, accomplishing little other than marching directly into the former King of the Cage champion’s offense. He has done a solid job of regrouping in the years since. Allen is a much more effective striker, but given that he is still defensively void, that mostly seems to be best served as a backup plan to the aggressive grappling that brought him to the dance. The idea was further driven home by Allen’s last fight, a main event upset against Andre Muniz that saw him handle and eventually submit one of the UFC’s best grapplers at middleweight. Initially slated for another headliner against Jack Hermansson earlier this month, an injury has instead shifted Allen to this card, where he gets a dangerous but winnable matchup opposite Silva. The book is out on Silva at this point, but that does not make “Blindado” any less terrifying, as the Brazilian looks to throw heat and is able to absorb some powerful offense in return. It is notable that he was able to survive three rounds against Alex Pereira in 2022, but that does not mean Silva is invincible. An August loss to Gerald Meerschaert stands out as a particularly poor performance from Silva, who was taken out of his game by the Roufusport rep’s wrestling threat and tired himself out as a result. Allen can spend some time on the feet before getting things going with his wrestling, which means he could just get immediately blasted here, but the bet is that he will eventually put Silva through the ringer. The pick is Allen via second-round submission.

Jump to »
Emmett vs. Topuria
Ribas vs. Barber
Tafa vs. Lane
Santos vs. Onama
Allen vs. Silva
The Prelims