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Arnold Allen and Calvin Kattar squared off in the main event of UFC Vegas 63 in a matchup of top-10 featherweights as Allen sought to maintain his UFC perfect record.
Allen enters the battle fresh off of his biggest career victory, a first-round TKO victory over Dan Hooker back in March at UFC London. Before that, he achieved important victories over opponents like Sadiq Yusuff, Nik Lentz, Gilbert Melendez, and Mads Burnell. While this was going on, Kattar had just defeated Giga Chikadze after losing to Max Holloway and was coming off a contentious split decision loss to Josh Emmett.
As a result of a knee injury, Allen ultimately prevailed by second-round TKO against Kattar, who appeared to have blown out his knee at the end of the first round. Here is what we believe the English fighter in the UFC Vegas 63 main event should do after the fight.
Due in large part to the fact that Arnold Allen hasn't been fighting regularly because of injuries, he has been lurking under the radar for years. He was finally ready to compete in his first UFC main event, but sadly, it was cut short due to an injury that left him in an awkward position.
Early on, Allen was succeeding, but there was no clear victory for him. He demanded a shot at the temporary title after his win. He, Josh Emmett, and Yair Rodriguez will face off in the final matchup for the interim belt. All three have valid arguments, but we anticipate a match between Allen and Emmett for the temporary belt sometime in the first quarter of 2023.
Speaking to former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping following his victory, Allen stated:
"Volkanovski asked the guys to make a statement and it's another injury, TKO by injury. I can't really ask for a title shot off this, maybe give me the interim job... If Volkanovski's gonna be out for a while going up in weight, give me the interim shot. I feel like I deserve it."
Former champion Daniel Cormier thinks the featherweight class should be discontinued since UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is vying for a second title.
At UFC 284 on February 11 in Perth, Australia, Volkanovski has his sights set on Islam Makhachev, a colleague of Cormier's and the recently crowned lightweight champion. Since the champion appears to be tied, Cormier wants Arnold Allen, the victor of UFC Fight Night 213, and Josh Emmett, who is on a roll, to square off on the same card.
"Arnold Allen deserves to fight for some portion of the championship. I believe his humility in that moment is what actually turned me about. And honestly, Josh Emmett does deserve an interim title fight also. Those guys should not have to wait for the champion as he tries to chase down greatness."
Cormier added:
"Give the champion an opportunity to do something truly special, but allow for the weight class to continue to move and see if something shows itself... I don't like when a guy has to win double digit fights in the UFC in order to earn a championship opportunity. It seems like way too long and I would like to see Allen fighting for some portion of the championship."
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