Max Holloway has earned his status as one of UFC’s greatest featherweight champions, but Arnold Allen says the work that got him there will be his undoing. Holloway and Allen meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night on April 15 with title implications in play, particularly for Allen.
Allen has quietly worked his way into title contention with a perfect 10-0 UFC run. His slow build from debutant to top-flight contender is being rewarded with a high-profile fight against the fan-favorite former featherweight champion. Allen praises Holloway as the most legitimate test in the division, but believes “Blessed” is cursed by his all-action style. Holloway has absorbed an average of 157 significant strikes in each of his last five fights. By contrast, Allen has absorbed a total of 147 significant strikes in his last five fights combined.
“He’s Max Holloway, he’s great. His mileage is gonna catch up,” Allen told “Morning Kombat” in a recent interview. “It doesn’t matter how old you are if you have 20 fights where every fight is a back-and-forth, 50-50 war. Even when he’s been very dominant, he’s taken a lot of shots. So yeah, the miles have got to add up.”
Holloway remains arguably the second-best featherweight in the UFC despite Yair Rodriguez capturing the interim championship at UFC 284. It is a trio of losses to reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski — Holloway’s only featherweight losses in the last nine years — that has gridlocked him out of the immediate title scene.
“When they announced Yair Rodriguez fighting Josh Emmett, the only thing that would be better than not getting an interim fight was to fight Max Holloway and to beat Max Holloway,” Allen said. “Obviously, Max beat Yair in the last one. So he, for me, is a more credible spot than beating Yair.”
Allen applauded Holloway’s mental warfare, which he describes as a stark contrast to mind games played by other fighters. The often-imitated Conor McGregor formula involves ruthless, personal trash talk in the lead-up to a fight. Holloway has a more “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” approach to fight psychology. Allen says Holloway’s laid-back, nice-guy character gives way to his competitive spirit mid-fight. Holloway frustrates opponents by playfully whooping them. He taught Brian Ortega how to defend punches mid-contest and proclaimed himself to be UFC’s best boxer while landing a historic number of strikes on Calvin Kattar.
“I’ve always loved watching Max. Who hasn’t? He’s fun to watch. He seems like a top bloke. Not when he fights though. He’s an asshole when he fights. He hits you, he’s shaking his hand and mocking you,” Allen said. “You need to be aware of that. He’s a nice guy outside of the cage, but in there, no.
“The mental warfare he’s good at in the cage. Not even outside because he’s not like McGregor [who] would break people down before [the fights] like he did to Jose Aldo. He seems to do that in the cage. He does all his talking there, riles you up, gets you sort of off your gameplan and gets you frustrated.”
Allen was orbiting around a UFC featherweight title shot even before the Holloway fight was announced. He is confident a victory over Holloway cements him as the rightful challenger for Volkanovski or Rodriguez.
“Beating him, there is no more legitimate route to getting to a title,” Allen said.