Ian Heinisch on Brendan Allen: ‘He’s Afraid & That’s OK’

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Brendan Allen seems to have a genuine dislike for UFC on ESPN 17 opponent Ian Heinisch. In June, he questioned the legitimacy of Heinisch’s withdrawal from their planned booking that month. He claimed being swayed away from facing him when the pair competed for Legacy Fighting Alliance. And he even threw shade on Heinisch’s background of being incarcerated and turning his life around. The dislike has left “The Hurricane” confused. However, he believes there is a specific internal reason for Allen’s comments about him.

“For someone I’ve never even said a word to; for him to be so emotional every time he starts talking about me, it means I’m on his mind. He’s like the girl you kept turning down, or could never make it to your level, and is just all emotional about it,” Heinisch told Sherdog. “If I’m on his mind that much, that’s pretty funny. He’s scared. That’s what it is. It’s fear. When you’re scared, you get emotional and start attacking people and their personal life. And you have no idea of who the person even is. I saw him before the Meerschaert fight. I looked at him, in his eyes, and I saw his eyes twitch. It’s that prison mentality. He wouldn’t even look at me in the [UFC Performance Institute] when we were there. He’s afraid, and that’s OK.”

In his conversation with Sherdog, the 32-year-old talked about the injury that knocked him out of his original booking in June and why he feels “All In” is underestimating him, as well as why he believes his upcoming foe is nowhere near the level of previous opponents like Derek Brunson and Antonio Carlos Jr.