Staredowns! ‘Blessed’ Sizes Up Allen In KC

The return of Max Holloway is nearly upon us as “Blessed” will make his first walk to the Octagon in over nine months tomorrow night (Sat., April 15, 2023) at UFC Kansas City live on ESPN and ESPN+ from inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The former UFC featherweight champion will meet rising contender Arnold Allen in the main event.

This is a massive fight for both men to say the least. Holloway, who is widely regarded as one of the best featherweight fighters of all time, has lost his last three title fights to current 145-pound king, Alexander Volkanovski. “Blessed” has defeated everybody else that UFC has put in his way, but if he wants a fourth fight with the champion he’ll need to beat Allen in style.

Allen, on the other hand, is in search of his first UFC title shot. The English contender has been kept under wraps by the promotion amidst a 10-fight win streak, but now Allen will be let loose against one of the best fighters in the sport. If “Almighty” can take care of business this weekend in Kansas City then he would most certainly get the next featherweight title shot.

In advance to Saturday’s main event at UFC Kansas City, Holloway and Allen stepped on the scale for Friday’s ceremonial weigh ins (results HERE). They also locked eyes for one final staedown. Check it out in the above vide player.

Also on the UFC Kansas City card will be a co-main event clash between featherweights Edson Barboza and Billy Quarantillo. This is the biggest step up in competition for Quarantillo to date, but he has the fan-friendly fighting style to make this one of the best contests of the night. Check out their final faceoff below:

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Kansas City fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 8:30 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Kansas City news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Holloway vs. Allen” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.