Arnold Allen is one of the most promising up-and-coming fighters in the UFC’s featherweight division, which has no shortage of stars already. Even so, with his over fifty percent stoppage rate, the Englishman is becoming one of the must-watch fighters in the promotion.
Allen has been in the UFC since 2015. In a year, he’ll complete a decade of fighting inside the promotion’s cage. So far, he’s been up against fighters like Dan Hooker, Max Holloway, and Sodiq Yusuf. While he lost against Holloway, he secured a win against the other two. In this article, we take a look at his background.
What is Arnold Allen’s ethnicity and nationality?
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Arnold Billy Allen is an English fighter who was born and raised in Suffolk, a ceremonial county in East England. The featherweight fighter was always into mixed martial arts. In fact, he started his journey into the sport when he was a mere teenager. Once he fought a few amateur fights as a teen, he decided to go pro in 2012. He went from one promotion to another in Great Britain which included a little time at Cage Warriors. However, three years into his professional career, he would find an interesting opportunity at the UFC.
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Allen was a short-notice replacement, much like the current featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski’s last appearance. However, the difference between the two was that Allen actually went and won his fight. He lost the first two rounds but ended up submitting his opponent in the third.
Announcing his arrival in grand fashion, Allen would go on to put together a winning streak of 10 fights in his UFC career. He would finally lose to Holloway in 2023 via decision. In early 2024, he lost another decision to Movsar Evloev. This contributed to his second professional loss in the UFC putting his record at 19 and 3. Now, will he take his wins tally to an even 20?
How did Arnold Allen start fighting?
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Arnold Allen was always of the athletic bend. Having seen his father, Pace Allen make his name as a travelling strongman, he was always interested in sports. Arnold became interested in MMA at quite a young age, as the sport was hitting its strides and gaining exponential popularity during the mid-2000s when Arnold was a teen.
At the age of 16, Arnold made his amateur MMA debut, and quickly compiled an undefeated 4-0 record before he took the final plunge. In 2012, two years after his amateur debut, the 18-year-old Arnold would make the consequential decision to turn pro, knocking out Nathan Greyson in style at the UCMMA 27 card. And he hasn’t looked back since.