Former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway looks to continue his quest to reclaim featherweight gold against Arnold Allen this Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Many consider Holloway the greatest featherweight in UFC history, partly due to his high-level boxing skills and propensity to be involved in five-round wars. Another reason is his catalog of wins, many of which come against high-caliber opponents. Holloway’s résumé includes victories over former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo x2, Brain Ortega, and Frankie Edgar.
Standing in his way is Arnold Allen, a man with a very impressive record himself. Currently sitting at 19-1 (10-0 in UFC), Allen is riding a twelve-fight win streak and has been quietly going about his business as he has crept up the UFC rankings to the point when it has become impossible to deny him the big fights.
Between both men, they have contested 50 professional fights, and you’d have to go all the way back to 2012 to find a stoppage defeat in either man’s record (Dustin Poirier defeated Holloway via submission at UFC 143). Even more remarkably, neither man has ever been KO’d inside the octagon which is why many believe this fight has the makings of being a classic.
What happens if either man wins?
Max Holloway has fought current featherweight champion, Volkanovski on three occasions (0-3), thus a win for Holloway will potentially put the featherweight division in a difficult position as most would view a fourth fight with Volkanovski as being a hard sell.
Allen is currently #4 in the UFC Featherweight rankings and is unbeaten in the UFC. A win over the -175 favorite on Saturday night will undoubtedly increase his draw and catapult him right into title contention.
A potential stumbling block for Allen (if he were to win) would be the outcome of Alexander Volkanovski’s title defense against Yair Rodríguez which is being targeted for International Fight Week in July. Should Yair be victorious, it would be safe to assume that Volkanovski would be offered an immediate rematch, meaning Allen would potentially have to wait until early 2024 for a title shot.
Many people are torn when it comes to picking a winner for this weekend’s showpiece. Calvin Kattar (#7) has competed against both of the men featured in Saturday’s headline bout. He expects a close fight and would be excited to see Arnold Allen shock the world once again and prove he is a worthy number-one contender, but is tipping Max to overcome the +150 underdog in the championship rounds. He told MMAFightingonSBN:
”I could see maybe Max breaking him in the 4th or the 5th, championship rounds. I don’t know if Arnold has experienced those rounds much in his career, I don’t think so. I definitely think the longer the fight goes, you lean toward Max’.’
Other fights on the main card include:
Edson Barboza (22-11) vs Billy Quarantillo (17-4)
Dustin Jacoby (18-6-1) vs Azamat Murzakanov (12-0)
Tanner Boser (20-9-1) vs Ion Cuțelaba (16-9-1, 1NC)
Pedro Munhoz (19-7, 2NC) vs Chris Gutierrez (19-3-2)
Clay Guida (38-19) vs Rafa Garcia (15-3)
You can watch UFC Fight Night: Holloway Vs Allen on UFC Fight Pass (US/Worldwide) or BT Sport (UK)
Discussion about this post