The fight ended at 38 seconds of the third round after the American shocked the Scot in the stand-up, went for a guillotine and then finished his opponent with a rear-naked choke after changing position.
Throughout the previous two rounds, Allen dominated Craig both in the standup and in the parterre where much of the fight took place, including making several attempts to end the fight with submissions.
In his post-fight interview, 27-year-old Brendan Allen stated that he wants to see his next opponent to be one of the top five fighters in the division, a win over whom would guarantee him a title shot.
In the event’s second main event, undefeated Ecuadorian welterweight Michael Morales won a unanimous decision over Australian Jake Matthews for his fourth victory under the UFC banner.
Of the other results, we note the disappointing performance of Russian middleweight Denis Tyulyulin, who, after taking the fight on short notice, suffered an early defeat to Christian Duncan, losing to the Brit by technical knockout in the second round.
Kyrgyzstan’s Myktybek Orolbai made a successful UFC debut in the event’s main card, finishing American welterweight Uros Medich with a neckbreaker in the second round.
Chase Hooper, Payton Talbott, Amanda Ribas, Joanderson Brito, Jose Johnson, Zeca Saraghi also earned early victories, while the lightweight bout between Trey Ogden and Nicolas Motta was ruled a forfeit due to an error by referee Mike Beltran, who prematurely stopped the fight and ruled the Brazilian defeated by arm-triangle choke.
All results from UFC Fight Night 232.