Edmonton — UFC featherweight Arnold Allen is addressing a couple of injuries at the moment, with an eye on returning sometime in the first quarter of 2025.
England’s Allen (20-3) is coming off a win over Giga Chikadze that snapped a two-fight skid; the #7-ranked 145’er is now looking to get back to work potentially in March should the promotion return to London.
Allen was on hand for UFC Edmonton on Saturday (he’s spent a fair bit of time training in Canada), and responded to the idea of a fight with Yair Rodriguez in Mexico by saying “it would be a great fight, but I hope they go to London in March as well. The altitude in London is great. Logistically, that would be a lot better.”
“Almighty” Allen believes he’d win a hypothetical fight with Rodriguez, but admitted that “he’s so dangerous. You can never count him out. He’s elite, and I think I’m up there too. And I think that kind of fight would prove it.”
While Allen’s future is up in the air somewhat, a former opponent, Max Holloway, announced a move to 155lbs over the weekend. That’s on the heels of being knocked out at the hands of Ilia Topuria last month.
Asked if Holloway was making the right move, given that lightweights don’t hit any less hard than 145’ers, Allen suggested Holloway was.
“I think so. At this point in his career, I think he really struggles cutting down to 45. I think he always has,” explained Allen. “I don’t know if he gets in bad shape after fights or gets big; I know he gets big, we all do. I don’t think it’s necessarily the power that people are punching, it’s how much you’re draining yourself. It’s the impact that’s having on yourself, not the power. You can get hit by anyone, it still sucks but if you’re drained, it hurts more.”
Watch the full UFC Edmonton media scrum with Arnold Allen above.
