UFC Fight Night results, highlights: Brendan Allen submits Christian Leroy Duncan, calls out Dricus du Plessis

Allen and Christina Leroy Duncan fought tooth and nail for the majority of five rounds. Both men had their moments on the feet and on the mat. Allen was likely ahead on the scorecards, but not comfortably enough to leave it to the judges. In Round 5, he took Duncan down against the fence. Duncan made a critical mistake. He was so concerned with not letting his back fully hit the mat that he left his neck exposed. Allen capitalized with a death grip that forced Duncan to tap. Post-match, Allen called for a middleweight title shot or a fight with former champion Dricus du Plessis.

Both men throw leather in an early exchange. They start pointing and exchanging words. Duncan lands a loud side kick to the body, followed by one to the head. He tries for a spinning wheel kick. Allen barrels him to the fence. He has the body lock, but has yet to complete the takedown. Allen winds up on Duncan's back. Allen gets him to the ground. They're in a weird, reverse tabletop position. Duncan is so focused on not letting his back completely hit the mat that he leaves his neck wide open. Allen jumps on the rear-naked choke for dear life. Duncan is stubbornly refusing to tap and nearly goes unconscious before finally giving up.

Duncan opens with two front kicks to the body. Allen lands a hard jab. Duncan's corner reprimands him for crashing into Allen. They want discipline from their fighter. Allen lands a hard two-punch combo that earns kudos from his opponent. Duncan lands a gentle kick to the inside thigh. He throws a jab between a body kick. Allen is still pressing forward, staying in his face. Allen rips a right hook to the body and a left hook to the head. Duncan lands a nice elbow before blocking Allen's spinning back fist. Duncan lands another elbow. Duncan sticks the jab. They trade straights, but Allen punctuates it with a punch that spins Duncan's head. Allen scores a thudding leg kick. Allen gets him to the fence and uncorks an elbow. Duncan sneaks a left hook through, followed by two jabs. Duncan lands a push kick. Duncan slaps two calf kicks. Allen throws an even harder one. Allen's strikes are drawing bigger reactions from Duncan this round. Both men land elbows. Allen has not taken a back step. Duncan leaps in with an elbow and a punch. Duncan starts connecting with more jabs and straight punches. Allen throws a straight over his shoulder. Unofficial score: 10-9 Allen (38-37 Allen)

Allen immediately shoots and takes down Duncan eight seconds into the round. Allen gets sloppy in pursuit of a submission and gives up the bottom position. Duncan has one hook in and works against the fence. Now it's Duncan wrecklessly pursuing the rear-naked choke, and Allen winds up on top. Allen works in short elbows from Duncan's guard. This is a suffocating, smothering performance from the more experienced middleweight. Duncan scrambles to his feet with 90 seconds left. Allen shoots again, but Duncan sprawls on him. Duncan lands two nice elbows from the top of half guard. Duncan spends the remainder of the round on top, landing the harder strikes. Unofficial score: 10-9 Duncan (28-28 overall)

Duncan opens with teeps to the stomach and knee stomps. Duncan lands a spinning back kick. Allen suffers an eye poke, and that brings a halt to the fight. Referee Marc Goddard immediately takes a point from Duncan! Now the lower-ranked contender needs to win this round. He immediately turns up the pressure, landing hard punches and oblique kicks. Allen keeps walking him down. Allen barely misses a head kick. They clinch up. Allen slides low for a takedown. Duncan has his neck wrapped up. Allen completes the takedown and lands in half guard to avoid a guillotine choke. Allen passes to side control. He lands an elbow from top position with more than two minutes to work. Duncan's cheek is cut. Allen hunts an arm triangle choke from the position between full mount and back mount. Allen tries to slide in a rear-naked choke, but Duncan avoids it. Allen pummels him to the bell. Unofficial score: 19-18 Allen

Duncan opens with a lightning-fast jab. Allen returns fire. Duncan uses his hands, hips, and feet to feint constantly. Duncan kicks up the middle. Allen fires a combination of tight hooks. Duncan throws a crushing knee to the stomach. Allen presses him to the fence. Duncan reverses position. Allen sneaks a knee to the head. Allen gets Duncan to the ground and takes the back. Duncan escapes back to his feet rather quickly. Duncan reverses position. He has a flat palm against Allen's face, but his fingers are right at Allen's eye. Allen tries to get the referee's attention but eats an elbow for it. They break. Allen throws an elbow. Duncan throws a harder one. Spinning back elbow by Duncan! More punches. Allen backs up. Those might have hurt him. Allen punches his way back into the fight. Unofficial score: 10-9 Leroy Duncan 

Allen isn't interested in being anyone's stepping stone. "All In" once again puts his top-five middleweight ranking on the line against someone with more to gain. Allen welcomes rising contender Duncan to the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Herbert entered the Octagon on Saturday with 10 UFC fights over six years. In all that time, he'd never won consecutive fights. History indicated that he was due for a loss in Las Vegas. Herbert flipped the script on its end, beating Camilo in a hard-fought bout. Herbert and Camilo traded leather for the majority of the 15 minutes. Herbert utilized superior speed and technique to score while Camilo cut off the Octagon and threw with power. Camilo's grappling seemed to be the difference maker. He achieved mount and took Herbert's back in the second round. However, the tempo started to get to Camilo in Round 3. Slowed but undeterred, Camilo kept marching forward. He was competitive, but Herbert's superior started sitting down on his punches once he saw diminishing returns from his opponent. The outcome: 29-28 scorecards from all three judges. 

Herbert is ready to find consistency. Herbert looks phenomenal at times: knocking out Mandel Nallo and nearly taking Ilia Topuria's head off with a head kick. But he can't do it reliably. Herbert has alternated between losses and wins in his last nine fights, with a draw wedged partway through. He'll want to keep his head on a swivel tonight. Camilo is a slugger, coming off a first-round KO win over Nazim Sadykov in June. 

Godinez is back in the win column. The Mexican-Canadian fighter bounced back from her loss to Tatiana Suarez, winning a hard-fought decision against Souza. There was very little to separate them in the first 10 minutes of the fight. They landed an identical number of total strikes in Round 1 and tied each other's significant strike tallies in Round 2. Godinez found crucial success with her takedowns in Round 3, after going one for 11 in the previous rounds. That gave her a crucial round as the judges scored the fight 29-28 in her favor.

"She is so tough, and she kicks so hard," Godinez told UFC commentator Michael Bisping in a post-fight interview. "I might have broken my hand halfway through the fight."

Allen and Duncan are looking for an impressive performance tonight. The type that will give them a strong case for fighting someone in the middleweight top five. Duncan, ranked six spots below Allen, is playing with house money. He believes he's evolved enough to give "All In" all he can handle.

"I came into the UFC so green, and the fights that I'm getting now, I'm taking a lot from them," Duncan told CBS Sports. "Outside of the cage, I'm around some great mentors. The rate at which I'm evolving and learning is now putting me in a position to prepare for the top level and somebody like Brendan Allen."

CBS Sports' expert prediction isn't convinced, siding with Allen to win a decision or perhaps a late submission. Take a look below at our full preview for Saturday's main event.

UFC Fight Night predictions -- Brendan Allen vs. Christian Leroy Duncan: Fight card, odds and expert picks

Shakiel Mahjouri

Godinez looks to get back on track. A loss to Tatiana Suarez directed her away from the UFC title picture. Her training partners, former women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and two-time featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes, now know how to overcome adversity. Her comeback trail starts with Ketlen Souza, who missed weight this week. Souza is a physical fighter, and I'm curious to see how the weight miss impacts her performance.

Enter Fili's name into the Knockout of the Year conversation. Fili and Kai Kamaka III met in a fight between two experienced veterans. Fili has the lion's share of experience, with more than 40 professional fights. The first round was as competitive as the close betting lines implied. The second round was nothing like that. "Touchy" Fili uncorked a head kick that had Kamaka stiff as a board before he hit the mat. Fili pulled back the follow-up punch, showing incredible wherewithal and restraint. Fili immediately dropped to his knees, visibly concerned for Kamaka, who woke up after lying unconscious for a while.

Two experienced veterans step into the Octagon. Fili has 40 professional fights under his belt, while Kamaka could clear 30 next year. Expect a tactical but high-output performance from two fighters who've seen it all at a high level.

What could have been. Wellmaker had "big next thing" written all over him after knocking out his first three opponents under the UFC umbrella. After three straight losses, including two by stoppage, his UFC career may be over. Wellmaker looked fantastic early against Tanzilovi. He landed almost all the major blows, including brutal body shots that dropped Tanzilovi. The betting underdog used his wrestling to stave off a finish. In Round 2, Tanzilovi woke up. He landed the cleaner strikes as Wellmaker, devoid of head movement, tried to track him down. Tanzilovi's wrestling opened up his striking game. Wellmaker blocked the initial head kick, but the second one put him down. Tanzilovi, who trained with former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili for the fight, only needed a few subsequent ground strikes to score a TKO win.

Wellmaker needs to get back on track. Once seen as a blue-chip prospect, consecutive losses to Ethyn Ewing and Juan Diaz forced fans to reassess his upside. Wellmaker still packs a mean punch and is favored to start his rebuild tonight.