Andre Fili knows where to draw the line.

Christian
Leroy Duncan believes a win over Brendan
Allen would warrant a shot at
Ultimate Fighting Championship gold or a matchup with a former
titleholder.

Duncan (15-2) is scheduled to headline
UFC Vegas 122 against Allen (27-7) on Saturday at Meta Apex in
Las Vegas. The Englishman has defeated Roman
Dolidze and Jared
Cannonier in his last two outings and hopes a victory over
Allen will earn him one of those opportunities.

Christian Leroy Duncan targets former champion as next step
after Brendan Allen

Duncan is 8-2 in the UFC and has won five straight fights. He
believes an impressive performance against Allen could propel him
past other middleweight contenders or put him one step closer to a
title shot.

‘I don't see why not [a title shot next],†Duncan told MMA
Fighting. “We get a good performance this weekend, I don't see why
not… Brendan Allen being Top 4, it puts us in that title contention
section where we've got Strickland and Imavov who are supposed to
be fighting next. We've got DDP amongst that mix of former
champions. It will be great to then put my hat in at the top level.
This year I fought Roman being a Top 15 fighter, Cannonier being a
Top 10 fighter and now Brendan Allen being a Top 5, so the natural
progression from that would be a former champion.â€

Middleweight champion Sean
Strickland has said compensation remains an obstacle to
finalizing the first title defense of his second reign, with
Nassourdine
Imavov his expected challenger. Former champions Khamzat
Chimaev and Dricus Du
Plessis are also seeking another fight with the 185-pound
titleholder. Chimaev lost the belt to Strickland earlier this year,
while du Plessis holds two wins over the American.

Christian
Leroy Duncan wants a No. 1 fight — or a straight title shot —
with a win at #UFCVegas122: “I fought Roman being a Top 15 fighter,
Cannonier being a Top 10 fight, and now Brendan
Allen being a Top 5, so the natural progression from that would
be a former champion.” (🎥 @guicruzzz)

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting)
October 8, 2026

Josh
Hokit believes Alexander
Volkov will never get a chance to fight him.

Hokit (10-0) is scheduled to challenge Ciryl Gane
(14-2, one no contest) for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Volkov has
criticized Hokit since the title fight was announced, and the
American has responded.

Josh Hokit says Alexander Volkov will never get his chance,
mocks heavyweight résumé

Volkov considers Hokit an easy matchup and predicts that Gane will
defeat the unbeaten contender. In response, Hokit compared their
records, noting that he defeated Derrick
Lewis and Curtis
Blaydes, both of whom beat Volkov.

“Drago†has won consecutive decisions over Jailton
Almeida and Waldo
Cortes-Acosta and is scheduled to face Rizvan
Kuniev at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Hokit added that Blaydes
defeated both Almeida and Kuniev. “The Incredible Hok†claims he
will already be dominating the light heavyweight division by the
time Volkov earns a fight with him.

“Volkov saying he'd beat me easy is funny… He'll never get the
chance,†Hokit wrote on X. “I just beat Blaydes and Lewis. Volkov
lost to BOTH. Now he's fighting Kuniev (who Blaydes beat), after
squeaking by Almeida (who Blaydes dominated). I’m going to kill
Ciryl, who he lost to twice. Zero finishes, pure boring. By the
time you earn a fight with me, I'll already be dominating LH.â€

Volkov saying he'd beat me easy is
funny..he'll never get the chance. I just beat Blaydes and Lewis.
Volkov lost to BOTH. Now he's fighting Kuniev (who Blaydes beat),
after squeaking by Almeida (who Blaydes dominated). I’m going to
kill Ciryl, who he lost to twice. Zero finishes, pure boring. By
the time you earn a fight with me, I'll already be dominating
LH.

— The Incredible Hok (@Josh_HokitUFC)
October 8, 2026