UFC Kansas City: Arnold Allen out to make a major statement vs. ex-champion Max Holloway
You look at the names of the fighters that Max Holloway has been beaten by, and it's most mind-blowing. Holloway is 23-7 heading into his bout Saturday at UFC Kansas City against Arnold Allen and it's almost like a list of Hall of Famers.
There were the three losses to Alex Volkanovski at featherweight and the two losses to Dustin Poirier, one at featherweight and one at lightweight. Then there was the one to Conor McGregor in 2013 at featherweight when Holloway was 21.
It's a good bet all three of those men will someday reside in the UFC Hall of Fame. His other loss was to Dennis Bermudez, also in 2013.
Allen looks at that list and salivates. Between them, they're 9-4 in UFC title fights, which includes one bout for the interim title for both McGregor and Poirier.
Holloway, though, has long been one of the world's best featherweights and has a pair of wins over José Aldo, who is being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July, as well as interim champion Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega and former lightweight champions Frankie Edgar, Charles Oliveira and Anthony Pettis. Edgar is a very likely Hall of Famer.
That list of opponents speaks to Allen: Beating Max Holloway, he said, is a big deal.
"He's one of the best of this time and if you look at the guys who have beaten him, they're basically the guys at the very top," he said. "That's one of the motivating factors [for me] fighting him. I want to put myself in that position. I want people to think of me like they do those guys. I believe I have the skillset and the mindset to be in that crowd."
At BetMGM, Holloway is a -190 favorite to win, with Allen at +160. The over-under is 4.5 rounds, with it being -115 either way.
It's a competitive fight and one that could truly put Allen on the map. He's ranked No. 4 at featherweight, but he doesn't have the high-profile that many other top five contenders have because he's not been as active as most of them.
Allen fought three times in 2014 and earned a contract with the UFC in 2015. But since then, he's fought once in each of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. He had two bouts each in 2019 and 2022. It's been for a variety of reasons, mostly due to injuries.
It's something of a downer because, given his talent level, it's very likely he'd probably have already competed for the title if he had fought more frequently.
Allen, though, chooses to look at the inactivity as a positive. There's nothing he can do about it now anyway, but looking back on it, he thinks the time out of the Octagon helped him.
"It's been kind of a good thing overall," Allen said. "I'm one of those guys who trains all year round. If I'm not in camp, I'm still preparing, trying to get better and improve my skills. So having a whole year to prepare, working on improving, you make a lot bigger jump than you would if were just in camps for fights all year. It's not like I really wanted [to be so inactive] but there are a lot of reasons for it.
"Scheduling issues, injuries, opponents pulling out, bad luck. There were a lot of times I was sitting there ready to go and wanted a fight and there were no opportunities available. There was one time when I was asking for a fight and they said, 'Hey, we're going to London in six months. Can you wait?' So it wasn't ideal but it's not like I was saying no to anything. Circumstances kind of caught up to me in that regard but it's been a blessing in disguise. It's served me well. I made improvements and got to a better level than maybe I would have reached had I been always in camp preparing for a specific fight."
It's kind of ironic that Allen's career has been marked by inactivity because he first began training to be a boxer. But he wasn't getting fights and someone recommended he train in mixed martial arts. The rest is history and now, he's preparing to take on one of the greatest featherweights the game has ever seen.
It will be a measuring stick for him, but if he wins, it's almost certain he'll be next in line for the belt. UFC president Dana White has said, "it makes sense," for Volkanovski to defend next against Rodriguez. Though the fight is not official, there have been reports it will take place in July during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
If Allen beats Holloway, that likely would bump him up to Holloway's spot at No. 2, just behind Rodriguez. So it's a hugely motivating bout for Allen in that regard, as well. There's a lot on the line Saturday, but Allen said there's zero chance he'll be caught looking ahead.
"It's easy [to not look ahead] because I have such a task in front of me," Allen said. "Max is still right there. He's still elite. But I know a lot of good things can come with a win, particularly a win over an opponent like this. So I'll definitely give all of my attention to Max and worry about the other stuff when it's appropriate."
