Top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contender, Brendan Allen, returned to the win column at UFC 318 last night (Sat., July 19, 2025) inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La., scoring an important unanimous decision over bad-blood rival, Marvin Vettori.
After the fight, while speaking with UFC 318 broadcaster Daniel Cormier, Allen shouted out his brother, who was in the stands for the first time.
And in-the-know fans were a bit shook.
“I live 45 minutes from here, my brother is here,” Allen said. “I’m not f—king losing in front of my f—king brother, in my home city, in my home state, you can’t f—k with me.”
Fans on social media saw Allen’s shoutout to his brother as another diss aimed at Vettori, who tragically lost his brother in a house fire earlier this year (details here), and completely slammed Allen, calling him a, “trash human.”
Well, it wasn’t a subliminal diss toward Vettori … at all.
Indeed, UFC 318 was the first event that Allen’s brother had been able to attend since an accident rendered him a paraplegic.
And “All-In” spoke about it in his post-fight interview.
Brendan Allen details post-fight exchange with Marvin Vettori’s team after their #UFC318 fight:
“His coaches started coaching sh*t. Just people sticking their nose between grown men.” pic.twitter.com/IKwfIKWvzT
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 20, 2025
“I just told him, our problems aside, my heart goes out to him and his family,” Allen told reporters. “My brother had his accident, and he totally lost his brother, so I can’t imagine the pain that it feels to fully lose your brother. I didn’t lose mine fully, but it still hurts.”
He further expanded in a clip on social media.
“Yo, for everyone talking shit about my post-fight interview, it was never a mock toward Marvin, as I told Marvin to his face, I have respect for him and his family, I can’t imagine the pain they feel,” Allen said.
“My brother died, and I was able to bring him back with CPR, and he was in attendance for the first time tonight,” Allen concluded. “It was never about him or his family, so f—k you if that’s what you feel, it’s f—ked for you to even say that.”
Allen (25-7) snapped his two-fight losing streak at UFC 318, erasing the memories of decision losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez.
Who’s next?
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 318: “Holloway vs. Poirier 3” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
