Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori look to settle some bad blood between them when the middleweights clash at the upcoming UFC 318 card on July 19 from New Orleans.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday following an initial report from MMA Mania.
The fight between Allen and Vettori is the culmination of a long simmering rivalry that dates back to when they were originally scheduled to meet back at UFC Vegas 90. Unfortunately the fight didn’t happen after Vettori was forced off the card but the disdain between the two fighters only grew from there.
The two continued trading trash talk until they actually got into a brawl at a casino during a PFL event in Florida.
Now they’ll look to settle their differences in the cage with both fighters attempting to bounce back from recent losses.
After rattling off seven wins in a row, Allen has dropped back-to-back decisions to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hermandez while Vettori has gone just 1-3 in his past four outings including two losses in a row to Roman Dolidze and Jared Cannonier.
The fight also serves as a homecoming for Allen, who was born and raised in Louisiana and actually started training as a teenager while working alongside UFC 318 headliner Dustin Poirier, who is having his retirement fight in New Orleans when he faces Max Holloway in the main event on the same night.
