This past Saturday at UFC Vegas 23, Arnold Allen (17-1) took on Sodiq Yusuff (11-2) in the co-main event. Both of these featherweights are looked at as two of the top prospects in the division and came in ranked 10th and 11th.
Arnold Allen made his UFC Debut back in 2015 and he was a perfect 7-0 entering the octagon on Saturday night. Like Allen, Yusuff was also perfect inside the octagon leading up to UFC Vegas 23.
Whoever won this matchup was going to be in a good position to make the leap to the next tier of competition. The fight on Saturday night was very close between the two top featherweights.
When you look at the striking numbers overall, you can see that. However, there were two moments in the first two rounds at UFC Vegas 23 that secured the fight for England’s Arnold Allen.
Allen was able to drop and hurt Yusuff in the first and the second round at UFC Vegas 23. Despite Yusuff having an edge in some of the striking numbers, those two moments secured Allen’s eighth straight win inside the octagon by unanimous decision.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 23?
After winning his eighth fight in a row, it’s time for the UFC to give Allen a bump up in his competition. With that said, who should the promotion look at in terms of the next opponent.
After the fight was over, Allen said he wanted to fight the winner of the Chan Sung Jung – Dan Ige fight. However, I don’t believe the UFC will go in that direction. I believe whoever wins that matchup will be a little too high in the division.
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about what the UFC should do with Yusuff next. I thought a good matchup would be the loser of the upcoming Edson Barboza – Shane Burgos matchup.Â
With that in mind, I think the UFC should potentially look at booking the winner of that matchup against Allen. Both Burgos and Barboza have name recognition and would provide a stiff test for Arnold Allen. I know it’s not the biggest jump for him, but this would be a logical next matchup.