Tomorrow night in the headliner of UFC Kansas City, we are going to see a helluva showdown in the featherweight division. Former champion Max Holloway (23-7) returns to action as he takes on the surging top contender Arnold Allen (19-1).
Earlier this year, there was an interim title fight in the featherweight division. Many people believed that Arnold Allen deserved an opportunity to be in that fight given the fact that he’s won ten fights in a row. He wasn’t given that shot, but he was given the next best thing.
Allen will look to win his 11th fight in a row, but he’s going to have a massive mountain to climb. The last time we saw Allen was in October in his headliner against Calvin Kattar. That night ended in the second round after Kattar suffered a knee injury.
Since Max Holloway lost to Conor McGregor in 2013, there’s only been one man who has defeated him at featherweight. That’s Alexander Volkanovski. Unfortunately for “Blessed” , that’s happened three times. Holloway has proven time and time again that he’s the second best featherweight on the planet.
While some might think it’ll be hard to get another crack at Volk, Holloway is steadfast in staying at 145 to prove that the best is still blessed in the UFC.
UFC Kansas City Prediction
In terms of this matchup, I’m really curious to see if Arnold Allen switches up his game plan at UFC Kansas City. Allen is normally a guy that fights with a ton of forward pressure and he loves to throw a lot of heat early. However, there’s no one in the promotion more durable than Max Holloway.
Holloway isn’t going to go away and we know that he can last for five rounds. The big question is whether or not Arnold Allen can. In my opinion, I think Allen is going to have some early success at UFC Kansas City. We’ve seen Holloway get hit before and I think Allen will be able to touch him.
However, as the fight goes on, Allen will get weaker and Holloway will start to build momentum. The main event rounds are really going to tell the story tomorrow night. While the first three rounds are close, Holloway pulls away with heavy volume and pressure in the final two rounds to secure an entertaining decision win.
Prediction: Max Holloway by Decision