A former dominant champion will try to make another push for a title shot when the UFC touches down in Missouri this week.
Max Holloway (23-7 MMA, 19-7 UFC) on Saturday meets Arnold Allen (19-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC), who is unbeaten in his UFC career and hasn’t lost in nearly nine years. They headline UFC on ESPN 44, which takes place at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
Holloway is in a unique position. He lost the featherweight title to Alexander Volkanovski in a close fight in December 2019. Seven months later, he dropped a second decision to him in a rematch. After wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez in main events, Holloway got another crack at the belt in July 2022, but again lost a decision to Volkanovski. Getting a fourth shot at the champ could be exceedingly difficult, given he’s 0-3 against him.
But a path to a title shot might be easier for Allen, who returned to 145 pounds when he made his UFC debut in June 2015. He’s only had 10 fights in the promotion in nearly eight years, but will have his third fight in 13 months when he meets Holloway. After wins over Dan Hooker and Kattar, he can stake his claim with a win over Holloway.
Volkanovski is set to meet interim featherweight champ Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July in Las Vegas. A win for Rodriguez might result in a quick rematch for Volkanovski, which would further delay the pecking order. But a Volkanovski win will have him likely looking for new blood.
This week’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Danny Segura broke down this week’s UFC headliner and more with host Mike Bohn. Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.
Video: What’s on the line for Max Holloway, Arnold Allen in UFC Kansas City headliner?