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“Upset” Arnold Allen Fuels Dispute With Marc Goddard After Illegal Knee Call Costs Him the Fight Against Movsar Evloev at UFC 297

Published 01/21/2024, 12:14 AM EST

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Arnold Allen suffered his second consecutive defeat at UFC 297 against Movsar Evloev. However, the most talked-about instance from his fight was the knee strikes he hit the undefeated Russian fighter, which was deemed illegal. ‘Almighty’ has now addressed that incident in a post on social media.

After Max Holloway broke his 10-fight winning streak, the 29-year-old English registered another loss to Movsar Evloev via a unanimous decision at UFC 297. But the fight was not short of controversy. Arnold Allen hit Evloev with a knee strike on the head in the third round while in a front headlock. However, referee Marc Goddard did not seem to like that and intervened. However, ‘Almighty’ doesn’t feel like there was anything wrong about it. Let’s see what he had to say.

Arnold Allen upset with the referee’s decision regarding his knee strike

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The 29-year-old took to Instagram and shared a picture of him nursing his eye after the 3-round battle against Movsar Evloev. Although he was on a stretcher, Arnold Allen had no bad blood with the Russian ace. He showed his respect to Evloev and commended him for winning the fight. Allen said, “In the stretcher for a black eye, I’m all good guys, losing sucks, all respect to my opponent!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Arnold Allen (@arnoldbfa)

Nevertheless, Allen was disheartened with Marc Goddard. The 19-3 fighter believes that there is nothing wrong with the knee strike, stating that he felt it was in accordance with the rules. “Bit upset about the ol knees but it is what it is, felt like they were legal. Onwards and upwards,” Arnold Allen added. However, he doesn’t want to make it a big deal and wants to look ahead to what’s next for him. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the statistics of the fight between Allen and Evloev.

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Evloev outstruck ‘Almighty’ by a close margin

As Movsar Evloev extended his unbeaten run at UFC 297, he dominated Arnold Allen with regard to the statistics of the fight. Out of 141 total strikes, the Russian fighter landed 72 of them. Meanwhile, Allen was able to land 61 of his 143 strikes. When it comes to takedowns, Evloev secured 5 out of the seventeen takedowns he attempted.

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Meanwhile, ‘Almighty’ edged past Movsar Evloev when it came to the number of significant strikes. Arnold Allen landed 59 out of 140 significant strikes, while Evloev managed to land only 51 out of his 118 significant strikes. Although it was close, statistically, Allen was not that far behind the undefeated Russian ace.

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With two losses on the trot, Arnold Allen has found himself in a difficult position. Nobody expected him to be in this situation due to his earlier 10-fight winning streak. However, there is no doubt that he will get the chance to bounce back and it remains to be seen if Allen can get back to his winning ways sooner rather than later.

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Written by:

Himanga Mahanta

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I am a UFC writer at EssentiallySports, and my passion for MMA and a deep understanding of its intricacies have allowed me to churn out more than 1000 articles. I have covered numerous UFC events and fighters, with the aim of bringing my readers closer to the action and the athletes they admire. I have developed a knack for providing analytical coverage of breaking stories from the world of MMA.
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Edited by:

Smrutisnat Jena