UFC London: Arnold Allen Wants Calvin Kattar In A Main Event Spot Next

London – After a long night of success by British fighters UFC featherweight Arnold Allen continued the streak with a TKO finish of Dan Hooker in the co-main event of UFC London on Saturday night.

Allen (18-1) had to overcome some adversity when Hooker hurt him early in the round, but Allen was able to recover and not only hurt but finish his opponent on the feet.

“Liar,” Allen joked when a member of the media mentioned him falling to his knees for a second.

“That was not Firaz’s (Zahabi) game plan. I stuck to it for about 30 seconds and then I didn’t stick to it. I think (Michael) Bisping was eating a chip butty between rounds and there was a bit of butter on the canvas. I just slipped on it so I just had to start pressure, pressure, pressure and I thought ‘You know what, Mike’s trying to stitch me up here. He doesn’t want another British champ. But we got through it,” Allen told reporters in his post-fight scrum.

All jokes aside Allen knows he overcame a rough moment to come back and win the fight. As soon as he noticed he had Hooker hurt Allen pounced on the opportunity to finish his opponent. The crowd sure reacted to Hooker being less than 100%.

“Not in a bad way, but I didn’t really notice the crowd. I get a tunnel vision where I’m just looking at my man and seeing what he’s doing. Yeah I don’t really, usually, react in emotion but I saw the opportunity so I took it,” said Allen.

Hooker made the return to 145 pounds for this bout in London, but his resume of victories at 155 is rather impressive. For Allen that means he’s finished one of the best guys, not only in the division, but in the entire sport.

“I always said that the better guys I fight the better I’m going to show up. He’s the best guy I’ve fought, he’s the most dangerous guy by a country mile physically. His skill set he’s long as anything and I showed my best there,” Allen said.

As for what is next for the 28-year-old featherweight currently riding a 9-fight win streak in the UFC? The same name that Allen called out in the octagon in his post-fight interview: Calvin Kattar.

“I don’t remember that,” Allen joked. “Yeah, I want to be in the top 5 and….I think he’s top 5? That’s a fight that put me there and we got that fight for a main event spot last year or earlier in the year I think, but I was out with injury.”

“I feel it works really good. He’s less tall than this guy so that works out. He’s predominantly a boxer, I’m predominantly a boxer, so it’s a friendly fight, fan-friendly fight, and I think I’m the better boxer.”

Watch the full UFC London post-fight press scrum with Arnold Allen above. More coverage from the event can be found below.