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Check back in here later on to see what’s happening on the UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen main card. This post will start with Clay Guida vs. Rafa García, and finish up with the main event between Max Holloway vs. Arnold Allen.
The marquee matchup of the night will see the UFC’s former featherweight champion, Max Holloway, lock horns with the promotion’s #4 ranked 145-pounder, Arnold Allen. Unless you’re current featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway has very little issue besting the rest of the division. Now here he is pitted against another potential title challenger to turn back in Allen.
The 12-fight winning streak of Allen is beyond impressive. He has steadily taken greater and greater steps up in competition, and now he’ll be standing across from a former champion. Arnold holds quality wins over guys like Calvin Kattar, Dan Hooker, and Sodiq Yusuff but Max is a completely different animal.
The co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen should be a banger as perennial contender Edson Barboza meets the whirlwind of violence that is Billy Quarantillo. A light heavyweight bout between Dustin Jacoby and Azamat Murzakanov should add to tonight’s violence, as well as another 205-pound match happening between crazy man Ion Cutelaba and former heavyweight Tanner Boser.
The prelims begin at 5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT, immediately followed by the regular main card at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT. Both broadcasts can be streamed on ESPN or ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen Main card results
(8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
- Max Holloway def. Arnold Allen by unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 48-47): Featherweight
Allen accidentally kicked Holloway in the cup within the first-minute of this one. After a short break, the fight got back underway. The hands of Holloway looked crisp.he was piercing through the guard of his opponent with laser combos, causing some redness around Arnold’s nose. Allen was showing the head kick on several occasions, but couldn’t quite find a home for it.
Allen picked up the pace to start the second round. He was throwing his hands in combinations, and was able to score on the former champ. With Allen leading the dance, Max sat back with a counter striking style, and he was being effective. This was a tough round to score.
We got a speedy flurry from Holloway to jump start the third round, that seemed to catch Allen by surprise. Max was also doing a good job of making Allen miss with his punches this round. He was standing in the center, commanding the cage. A couple of angry body kicks scored for Holloway, which were tenderizing the ribs of Allen.
The pace continued to be dictated by the former champion. He was using his jab to maintain the range, coupled with some active footwork. Allen was a bit bloodied up at this point, but he was still launching head kicks. He wasn’t connecting with them, but he was trying.
Allen came out aggressive in the final round, connecting with haymakers and taking it to Holloway. Just as Arnold was surging, Max responded with some knees and a spinning elbow to get some respect back. The head kicks of Allen started to graze the skull of Holloway, but then Max dropped him with a flurry in the closing moments of the match. What an ending!
- Edson Barboza def. Billy Quarantillo by KO at 2:37 of round 1: Featherweight
Quarantillo closed the distance right away, pressing Barboza against the cage. Edson broke free and Quarantillo pursued him behind his boxing. Barboza began attacking the legs, which prompted Quarantillo to go back to his grappling. Again Barboza got back to open space without being taken down. Then, Quarantillo level changed right into a Barboza knee. Billy hit the deck and that was that! WOWSERS!
- Azamat Murzakanov def. Dustin Jacoby by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Light Heavyweight
There was a bit of feeling out to get this one started. Murzakanov began opening up with his overhand left from the southpaw position, but Jacoby was doing a good job of defending it, until he didn’t. Jacoby was sat down with a heater, but did spring right back to his feet. Everything Murzakanov was throwing had tremendous power on it. We got a brief takedown from Murzakanov, but Jacoby was quick to get back up.
The seocnd stanza kicked off with Jacoby putting some volume out there, but the overhand left of Murzakanov was still dialed in. Jacoby defended a takedown attempt and then up and pressed Murzakanov against the cage. He chipped away with knees to the legs as he slowed down the fight. back in open space, Jacoby was sticking with his jabs and crosses, but Murzakanov dropped him again with another overhand left. Several more haymakers scored for Murzakanov, but luckily for Jacoby the round ended.
Murzakanov showed up for the third round with his right hook. He was catching Jacoby, but Dustin started to fire back. The crowd broke out in a ‘USA’ chant as Jacoby started to rally, and Murzakanov began to slow down. Murzakanov went for the takedown, but Jacoby defended it to give himself a chance. Jacoby hit his own takedown, and began punching away as Murzakanov tried to stand up. It was a strong finish for Jacoby, but he failed to find the finish that he needed.
- Ion Cutelaba def. Tanner Boser by TKO at 2:05 of round 1: Light Heavyweight
As expected, Boser came out looking to utilize his boxing, and Cutelaba was willing to oblige him. Cutelaba dropped Boser with a right, and was not going to let him off the hook. Ion went right for the takedown to get on top of Boser, and then started to unleash hell. As Boser was using the cage to stand up, Cutelaba spammed punches, forcing the referee to step in.
- Pedro Munhoz def. Chris Gutierrez by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Bantamweight
Munhoz deployed his usual pressure tactics right away, while Gutierrez was launching leg kicks from the outside. A huge right hand from Munhoz scored him a knockdown, which resulted in him taking top position. Munhoz attacked a toe hold, but Gutierrez used the space to stand back to his feet. Gutierrez landed a sling backfist, followed by a spinning back kick to the body just before the bell.
We got a brief battle of leg kicks break out in the second round. Pedro was still pressuring, and Gutierrez was staying elusive, but neither man was really landing anything clean. It was kind of a sticky round, which could have gone either way.
The stickiness continued into the final round. Nobody was landing in a way to sway the momentum in their favor. The biggest difference here was Munhoz’s pressure. He was being the aggressor, and everything else even, you kind of have to look at that.
- Rafa García def. Clay Guida by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Lightweight
We got some spirited pocket punching to open up this one. Both men were throwing in combination, and both were landing. A pro-Guida crowd erupted in a ‘Let’s go Guida’ chant to show support for their guy. Things settled down and García began to command the striking.
The striking of García continued to be there in the second round. Guida failed at his first attempt at a takedown, and then kept getting pieced up in the striking department. The jab was landing over, and over, and over again for García, leaving Guida’s face covered in red heading into the final frame.
We saw a much earlier takedown attempt from Guida in the last round, but Rafa easily avoided it. García consistently touched his target, working off of the jab and keeping Clay from finding any sort of rhythm. Credit to Guida for continuing to try, but García had his number.
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