The co-main is a collision of momentum. Brendan Allen has quietly rebuilt into one of the middleweight division's steadiest operators, riding back-to-back wins — a decision over Marvin Vettori and a fourth-round knockout of Reinier de Ridder — after dropping bouts to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez. A well-rounded submission threat who can also strike, Allen is the betting favorite at -160.

Edmen Shahbazyan arrives even hotter. Once a hyped prospect whose career stalled, the 28-year-old has reeled off three straight, two by knockout — a first-round finish of Dylan Budka, a decision over Andre Petroski, and a first-round stoppage of Andre Muniz. The power that made him a prospect is converting again, and he steps in as the live underdog with the clearer one-shot threat.

The matchup splits along familiar lines: Allen's volume, grappling, and championship-rounds composure against Shahbazyan's early ferocity. If Allen weathers the opening frames and drags the fight into deep water, the experience and submission game favor him — FightIQ's model leans Allen at medium confidence. But Shahbazyan's recent knockouts are a standing reminder that he doesn't always need deep water to end a night.

Model accuracy ~70% (0.6986 leak-free) on the 2025-2026 holdout (n=428); picks publish closer to fight time.