Arnold Allen Looks To Move Up In 2020

Arnold Allen Looks To Move Up In 2020

By Ben Jessop

Arnold Allen had two of the most important fights of his career in 2019, as he forced the UFC to give him the recognition he deserved.

Fighting Jordan Rinaldi in March and then taking on UFC veteran Gilbert Melendez in July, the UFC had no choice but to give Allen a new appointment in the featherweight rankings.

Now sat at #15, Allen continues to push to climb the table and the calibre of challenger becomes much more dangerous in the pursuit of the top ten but the UFC have given Allen his opportunity and on January 25th, he’ll face the #10 ranked Josh Emmett.

Emmett is a fighter who has faced some monstrous competition in the past, including a third round KO of Michael Johnson in March of 2019 and coming off of an extraordinary first round KO of Mirsad Bektic in July, Emmett will be looking to finish Allen in the same way.

Allen, in need of a standout, highlight reel finish on his resume, will be looking for his first official KO victory in the UFC but may also be looking to consider the long game and winning via decision when weighing up the fact that Emmett has not been knocked out by anyone other than Jeremy Stephens in February 2018.

This particular match up holds more importance than any other Allen’s previous fights and the pressure will be fully switched on for him to perform at the best of his ability. A win on the 25th January opens the floodgates to Allen, becoming the prospect endangering that seemingly unbreakable top ten.

Skipping four higher ranked fighters, such as submission specialist Ryan Hall and Calvin Kattar, this an opportunity of monumental proportions that is handed out once in the lifetime of a fighter. With the help of Firas Zahabi and the team in Toronto, the scale of what Allen is facing will not be missed, nor taken lightly.