Featherweight Arnold Allen was understandably emotional as he explained how the stupidly late UFC 304 start time led to him falling asleep at the wheel of his car, resulting in a collision just a few days before his fight with Giga Chikadze.
Arnold ‘Almighty’ Allen remains one of the best and most popular British fighters on the entire UFC roster thanks to both his endearing personality and sense of humor, with the ability to laugh at himself under the most strenuous of circumstances.
Well, this story is certainly no laughing matter, and it’s evidence of just how dangerous having local fighters compete at 3 AM in the morning can be for their local communities – thankfully, no one was seriously injured in the crash, as Allen himself explained.
Arnold Allen reveals he was in a car accident one week before UFC 304
Breaking down both the UFC 304 fight week build-up and the event itself, via his official YouTube channel, Arnold Allen revealed that he was in a car accident just a few days before facing Giga Chikadze in Manchester.
“After my last sparring, I was driving home cause the [start] time was f***** up. I underslept that day because my team – there was an event that night and people were fighting so my team had to train earlier.
“I was driving home half-asleep and I literally span my car out and crashed it into a barrier somewhere; that was on my way home after my last sparring.”
Luckily, no one was hurt in the accident and ‘Almighty’ was medically cleared to compete, assuming there were a few minor bumps and bruises from the collision.
However, the fan-favorite featherweight did appear to have a swell of emotions as he noted that things could have been much worse.
“I was so tired, and it was pretty scary, I was facing the wrong way on the motorway – you don’t ever want to see the cars coming at you.
“I’ve been driving since I was 19 and that was my first crash, definitely not ideal the Saturday before your fight you know, it was fine.”
For our American readers, these aren’t just your typical plastic or sheet-metal barriers. Motorway (highway) barriers here in the UK tend to be heavy-duty beams, thick enough to stop 18-wheeler trucks and are certainly not what you want to be slammed into at speed just a week before a UFC PPV.
“No one got hurt, didn’t hit anyone else, damaged my car a bit and 100% it was because I was half-asleep you know what I mean, stupid and rushing home trying to get back to bed.
“Hopefully they never do that again because that sucked, and I damaged my car which I’m p**** off about.”
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Arnold Allen fires back at allegation he sent ‘spies’ to Chikadze
Whilst Allen is known for his down-to-earth demeanor and is considered by many to be one of the ‘nice guys’ in the sport, ‘Almighty’ certainly didn’t mince his words as he fired back at some of Giga Chikadze’s rather unusual allegations.
Prior to UFC 304, the Georgian claimed that Allen had sent ‘spies’ into his practice room to gather information, and after the fight, stated on social media that he only lost the fight because of an injury he suffered in the first round.
“He’s a world-class operator, a bit of a poor sportsman, I guess,” noted Allen on the allegations.
“The whole thing about spies, you’re like surrounding by English people in England – You put up loads of footage out on YouTube, you have millions of fights that we’ve watched, tonnes of footage [too].
“We know what you’re really good at, you’ve even got a kick named after you – I don’t need some spies to know you have a really good kick… It’s just kind of strange.”
On the claims of injury, Chikadze had posted a video online following his UD loss in which he noted: “I need to inform you guys that at the end of the first round, I tear my right shoulder and in the second and third rounds, I could not lift my right hand.”
“After the first round, it was really hard to stay in the fight because I could not use my right hand. I could not throw the punch, I could not block.”
Arnold had a rather simple response, writing “This is not the way,” on X as he later revealed that he’d also suffered a major injury during the fight – a suspected broken hand, although the Englishman is still awaiting the results of his scans.