Dan Hooker returns to featherweight, meets Arnold Allen at UFC London

Dan Hooker will face a stern test in his return to 145 pounds.

Hooker (21-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC) takes on Arnold Allen (17-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) at the UFC’s “Fight Night” show on March 19,  which is expected to take place at O2 Arena in London with a broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+. Promotion officials announced the matchup Monday.

What a fight! @Arnoldbfa vs @DanTheHangman is signed for #UFCLondon

https://t.co/wg9VkLIZbA pic.twitter.com/1VwwxOb8Xr

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 24, 2022

After losing three of his past four, Hooker will drop back down to featherweight for the first time since 2016. In his past two octagon appearances, Hooker scored a unanimous decision win over Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266, followed by a short-notice submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 267. The City Kickboxing fighter recently went through a successful test cut to 145 pounds as he seeks new life in his old weight class.

Meanwhile, the streaking Allen will look to add another marquee name to his resume when he competes in his home country. Unbeaten in the UFC, the 28-year-old has won 10 in a row. Most recently, he beat Sodiq Yusuff in the co-main event of UFC on ABC 2 in April 2021.

With the addition, the UFC’s London card now includes:

• Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall
• Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento
• Luana Carolina vs. Molly McCann
• Cody Durden vs. Muhammad Mokaev
• Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy
• Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Sergei Pavlovich
• Arnold Allen vs. Dan Hooker