Allen takes 3-round thriller over Amirkhani by split decision
Arnold Allen wasn't going to let Makwan Amirkhani sully his home soil.
After three closely contested rounds of frenetic scrambles, grappling exchanges, and submission attempts, Allen was awarded a split decision over his fellow prospect in the featherweight curtain-jerker of UFC Fight Night 107's main card in London on Saturday.
"Almighty" improved his promotional record to a perfect 3-0 with his fifth straight victory, one Amirkhani didn't let him score easily. "Mr. Finland" came out charging - as he's been wont to do - and had Allen on his back and staving off an anaconda choke within the bout's opening seconds, but the Brit put the skills he honed under vaunted Tristar guru Firas Zahabi to use and reversed positions to end up on top.
The 23-year-old Allen treated Amirkhani to a hefty diet of body shots from the dominant position, and capped the busy frame with a flurry that had his Finnish foe reeling toward the cage, but not before he was put on his hind parts once again - however momentarily.
About what we expected from these two featherweights! @ArnoldBFA & @MakwanAmirkhani putting on a show! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/NIGUbSQbC9
— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2017
The 28-year-old Amirkhani went hunting for a tapout to open the middle round, promptly taking the fight to the ground and angling for a choke, but Allen capitalized on an ill-advised armbar attempt to turn the tables on him as he did in the first and end up in full mount. The pair soon made it back to their feet, and while Amirkhani managed to score another takedown off a sloppy front choke attempt by Allen, he was treated to some nasty lefts by the Brit in what little time they remained upright.
BIG left lands for @ArnoldBFA!! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/v1JGmUWNjY
— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2017
"Mr. Finland" had begun to fade from the second round onwards, but that didn't deter him from shooting for more takedowns in the last stanza, although his efforts were met with a stunning hip toss by Allen. After the referee stood the pair up following a few seconds of inactivity on the mat, the British youngster took his fellow upstart down all over again before closing the fight with a last-ditch attempt at a rear-naked choke.
Amirkhani sees a four-fight win streak snapped and his UFC record fall to 3-1 with the short end of the enthralling scrap.