Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Arnold
Allen would have admittedly preferred a bigger name than the
undefeated Movsar
Evloev for his next Octagon appearance.
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Allen will look to bounce back from his first UFC loss against
Max
Holloway when he takes on Evloev at UFC 297
on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The Englishman had originally lobbied for a
clash against Brian
Ortega, who was ultimately booked for a rematch against
Yair
Rodriguez at UFC Mexico. While Allen had hoped for a more
notable name, he believes Evloev is underrated.
“He’s very highly touted,” Allen recently told Violent Money TV.
“I think there was some easier fights with higher-ranked guys. We
were asking straight up for Ortega after the Holloway fight – the
bigger name, the bigger fight – and obviously he was out for a
while. Then I think they just want to make him and Yair rematch
down the line.”
“I think that’s what they’re doing now. There’s some easier
matchups and higher-ranked guys, but I think [Evloev is] a very
credible opponent and the rankings are kind of chosen, aren’t they?
So if you go on the official rankings – not the UFC rankings, the
Fight Matrix ones – he’s much higher than they have him.”
Regardless of the rankings, Allen believes defeating tough
up-and-comer is better than beating a top-ranked opponent on a
slump.
“It’s a tough test,” he said. “And I think beating an undefeated
guy and taking his hype and taking his undefeated record away,
that’s a lot bigger than beating a No. 3 guy that’s on a skid or
something.”