Movsar Evloev sees gold in his future after beating Arnold Allen in a back-and-forth battle to kick off the main card at UFC 297.
The undefeated Russian had to endure some dicey moments at times but his tenacious wrestling attacks along with hurting Allen badly in the second round allowed him to get the job done. When it was over, all three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Evloev, who improved his record to 18-0 with the victory.
He’s now hoping that performance will secure him a title shot against the winner of the UFC 298 main event when featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on Ilia Topuria.
“He’s a good fighter, he’s tough,” Evloev said about Allen. “After beating this guy, I feel like I can fight with anyone in my division. I feel like I’m the next contender for the title.”
With a striking advantage, it was Allen who established a jab early in the fight as he popped Evloev several times throughout the opening round. Evloev looked to close the distance to apply his wrestling and he was finally able to drag Allen down to the canvas.
Allen consistently got back to his feet but he just couldn’t break free from Evloev’s grip and that continued to plague him over all three rounds.
On the restart in the second round, Allen kept a noticeably lower stance to prepare for Evloev eventually diving for his legs. Allen was also throwing with fire behind every punch without overextending too much and doing his best to keep Evloev off him.
With less than a minute remaining, Evloev connected with a stinging straight left that rocked Allen and put him on wobbly legs. Evloev surged ahead looking to take advantage with Arnold sporting a nasty gash under his left eye that started pouring blood.
Allen returned the favor a few moments later after he stuffed a takedown and unloaded a barrage of knees in succession that blasted Evloev in the head. Referee Marc Goddard eventually stepped in to pause the action because the knees were deemed illegal due on a downed opponent as Evloev still had his hand on the mat during the fiery exchange.
No point was deducted but Allen lost the position with Evloev allowed to restart on the feet.
The featherweights continued to battle it out with Allen throwing out an attempted ninja choke late with Evloev still grabbing onto another takedown before the final horn sounded in a high-paced battle through 15 consecutive minutes.
When it was over, Evloev did enough to edge out the victory as he continues his march up the featherweight rankings. As for Allen, he’s now dropped two fights in a row after starting his UFC career with 10 straight wins.