Arnold Allen is set to compete for the second time this year when he fights on home soil at UFC 304 in Manchester.
The #6-ranked featherweight contender will be fighting down the division as he takes on the #9-ranked Giga Chikadze in a great matchup.
For Allen, he has been happy to accept the names put in front of him but “Almighty” has also been hoping to face higher ranked opponents.
The Brit is coming off of a defeat to Movsar Evloev at UFC 297 in a fight that he had no problem admitting was a tougher test than some of the opponents ranked above them both.
Chikadze is a great fight on paper but “Almighty” wants to know what he needs to do to take on some of the bigger names in the weight class.
Allen Uses Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov As An Example For His Featherweight Confusion
In an interview with InsideFighting, Allen spoke about how he doesn’t quite understand what determines which match-ups get put together.
He used the example of Cory Sandhagen fighting down the bantamweight rankings for his next fight against Umar Nurmagomedov on August 3.
Even after the pair were matched last year and the fight didn’t happen, it has been rebooked despite a big gap between them in the top 15.
Allen questioned whether it’s down to who you’re managed by and the influence that some fighters and teams seem to have compared to others. Nurmagomedov, of course, is managed by Ali Abdelaziz if Dominance MMA, a well-known management stable featuring some of the biggest names in the sport such as Islam Makhachev, Kamaru Usman and others.
“You need some of those old guys to fight these guys coming up so this will be my second fight now fighting down the rankings and I get it, I lost the last two, whatever I think, I lost the last two. The one after Holloway I felt like probably fighting someone like Ortega would have made sense but then they’re like ‘ahh, have number #9’ so then okay, whatever, is what it is. It feels like you have to be someone or be with the right management to get the right match-ups that make sense.
“Kind of like Cory Sandhagen fighting Umar, he’s like #9 or #10 and like come on. He’s #2, Sandhagen is #2 and he also already accepted the fight, didn’t happen, none of his fault, he fought anyway so yeah, I don’t get it, it’s confusing. I don’t doubt his ability, he’s very good, I think it’s going to be a good fight, a tough test, I just don’t understand what gets that skip in the queue.”
