Christian Leroy Duncan Wants Strickland or Du Plessis After Allen Test

Christian Leroy Duncan is one win away from stacking a six-fight streak and crashing the middleweight title conversation. The 15-2 Brit (10 KO) headlines this Saturday at the Meta APEX against #4-ranked Brendan Allen, and if he gets his hand raised, the former Cage Warriors champ reckons a straight shot at Sean Strickland isn't out of the question.

Duncan sits at #10 after a unanimous-decision win over Jared Cannonier in July. He's not shy about where he thinks an emphatic finish on Oct. 10 could land him. Asked if he could leapfrog Nassourdine Imavov and fight for the belt, Duncan said he doesn't see why not — especially with reports of a financial snag holding up the title picture.

The Case For Jumping the Line

His logic is built on a clean ladder of names. This year alone Duncan has beaten a top-15 fighter in Roman Kopylov, a top-10 in Cannonier, and now gets a top-five in Allen. The natural next rung, he argues, is a former champion — and that's where he points to Dricus Du Plessis, who he says "could very well be" his next opponent after going 3-0 in 2026. In a perfect world, that fight headlines the UFC's return to London in early 2027.

Duncan isn't counting Strickland out of the equation, either. Imavov is riding a five-fight tear that includes decisions over Allen, Israel Adesanya and Caio Borralho, and Duncan admits the Frenchman poses real problems. But he flagged Strickland's habit of winning fights nobody picks him for — the awkward, odds-be-damned kind. Whoever walks out with the belt, Duncan says, that's who he's chasing.

Allen First, Everything Else Later

None of that matters if Allen gets the better of him this weekend. The American is a 19-fight octagon veteran at 27-7, with 14 of those wins by submission and recent back-to-back taps in grappling contests. Duncan expects Allen to try and drag the fight to the mat — it's the route he'd take himself if the roles were reversed.

Duncan doesn't think the bout sees the fourth or fifth round given how both men fight, though he insists he's prepared if it does. He's bracing for the best version of Allen, who's good everywhere, and promising an explosive scrap. Beat the #4 guy decisively, and the rest of the division has to start taking Duncan's pitch seriously.