UFC Fight Night results: Brendan Allen submits Christian Leroy Duncan in fifth round

Brendan Allen closed out this evening’s UFC Fight Night card at the Meta APEX with a fifth-round submission victory over Christian Leroy Duncan, extending his winning streak to four in the process.

The American middleweight had to overcome a good start from the British contender before securing a rear-naked choke at 2:46 of the final round.

Elsewhere on the card, Jai Herbert earned a unanimous decision victory over Matheus Camilo, while Andre Fili and Otari Tanzilovi both delivered spectacular head-kick knockouts. From impressive finishes to closely contested decisions, Saturday’s event provided plenty of talking points across the divisions.

Brendan Allen extended his winning streak to four with a fifth-round submission victory over Christian Leroy Duncan in the main event at the Meta APEX.

The British middleweight made an encouraging start to the contest, using his range and striking to frustrate his opponent. However, an accidental eye poke and a dominant grappling display from the American in the second helped shift the momentum in Allen’s favour.

Allen continued to find success with his wrestling in the third, while Duncan responded with some effective striking in the fourth to set up a decisive final round.

Allen secured a takedown before working into position on the canvas and locking in a rear-naked choke, forcing Duncan to tap at 2:46 of the fifth.

The victory takes Allen to 16 UFC wins at middleweight, tying him for the second-most in the division's history.

Jai Herbert earned a unanimous decision victory over Matheus Camilo, using his experience to overcome a dangerous challenge from the Brazilian prospect.

Herbert enjoyed the better of the striking exchanges in the first round of the contest, but Camilo landed cleanly late on to hurt the Englishman and make the contest slightly more competitive before the end of the round.

Camilo took Herbert down in the second round, only for the former Cage Warriors Champion to reverse the position and finish the round in top control.

Herbert then looked the fresher fighter in the final five minutes, outworking Camilo to convince all three judges to score the bout 29-28 in his favour.

The victory is Herbert’s second consecutive win over a rising prospect, following his victory over Mandel Nallo earlier this year in Winnipeg.

At 38, the Englishman continues to prove he can be a difficult assignment for lightweights looking to make their mark inside the UFC.

Loopy Godínez returned to the win column with a unanimous decision victory over Ketlen Souza in an entertaining strawweight contest that went the distance.

Both women landed plenty of quality strikes throughout the opening two rounds, with Souza's power causing some issues for Godínez and limiting her opportunities to utilise her wrestling skills.

Godínez found more success taking the fight to the floor in the third, although Souza defended well and prevented her opponent from building significant ground-and-pound.

All three judges awarded Godínez the first and third rounds to secure the 29-28 verdict.

Andre Fili delivered a spectacular second-round knockout of Kai Kamaka III, producing the second consecutive head-kick finish to open the main card.

The pair traded strikes throughout a competitive opening round, with neither able to establish a clear advantage before Fili found the decisive opening early in the second.

Fili first stunned Kamaka with a clean punch before following up with a perfectly timed head kick that sent the Hawaiian crashing to the canvas just 22 seconds into the round.

The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for the experienced featherweight, who secured his 14th UFC win in the division.

Otari Tanzilovi secured his first UFC victory in spectacular fashion, knocking out Malcolm Wellmaker with a second-round head kick in the bantamweight main card opener.

Both fighters exchanged strikes throughout a competitive first round, with Tanzilovi showcasing his speed and grappling while Wellmaker found success with his hands, hurting the Georgian midway through.

Tanzilovi came out more aggressively in the second round and landed a head kick that sent Wellmaker crashing to the canvas, with the finish following at 2:39.

Having made his UFC debut up a division on relatively short notice, the Georgian returned to bantamweight and delivered an emphatic response to get his campaign back on track.

Wellmaker's third consecutive defeat, meanwhile, leaves the American with plenty of work to do to get his career back on track.

Julius Walker secured the second victory of his UFC career with a dominant second-round stoppage of veteran Gerald Meerschaert.

Walker controlled the contest from early on, repeatedly taking his opponent to the canvas and unleashing successful ground-and-pound strikes from the top position across both rounds.

Walker continued to find success with his wrestling, landing another takedown shortly before the midway point of the second round before immediately turning up the pressure with a barrage of strikes.

Meerschaert was unable to mount a response, forcing the referee to step in at 3:35.

Francisco Prado made an emphatic return to the lightweight division by stopping Ismael Bonfim in the opening round to snap a four-fight losing streak.

The 24-year-old Argentine came out aggressively, taking the fight to Bonfim and looking to capitalise on the Brazilian's significant weight mishap ahead of the fight.

Prado's wrestling prowess proved decisive, with a second powerful takedown in the latter stages of the round setting up the finish.

Bonfim covered up on the canvas as Prado unloaded a series of punches and elbows, forcing the referee to intervene at 4:23.

The victory marked Prado's second UFC win and his first since returning to the 155-pound division after three outings at welterweight.

Niko Price ended his four-fight losing streak in emphatic fashion, stopping Leon Shahbazyan in the opening round to close out his MMA career on a high.

Price had suffered a difficult run of results, including stoppage defeats to Jacobe Smith, Nikolay Veretennikov and Michael Chiesa, before returning for one final outing at the Meta APEX.

Price came out aggressively, overwhelming Shahbazyan with pressure and ground-and-pound to secure the finish at 1:58 in the very first round.

Brendson Ribeiro secured another upset at the Meta APEX, submitting Felipe Franco with a guillotine choke in the opening round.

Franco rushed forward looking for a takedown, leaving his neck exposed and allowing Ribeiro to lock in the submission.

The Brazilian secured the tap at 1:49, earning an impressive finish as he looks to build momentum in the light heavyweight division.

RJ Harris started well, using low kicks and landing a couple of shots showcasing his power, but Allen Frye Jr. weathered the early storm before responding with heavy strikes of his own.

The man from North Carolina rocked Harris, dropping him and securing the stoppage at 2:59 of the opening round.

After losing on the scorecards in his UFC debut last December, Frye Jr. bounced back emphatically, maintaining his 100% finishing rate inside the cage.

Alice Pereira secured her second consecutive finish after opening a nasty cut on Darya Zhelezniakova’s head with a late barrage of ground strikes.

The damage proved too much for the Russian, who opted not to continue before the start of the second round.

Melissa Gatto and Ernesta Kareckaite fought to a majority draw after a point deduction for fence grabbing proved costly for the Lithuanian in the opening round.

Kareckaite had the edge in the second before Gatto responded with a takedown and ground control in the third, leaving the judges unable to separate the pair.