Arnold Allen out of UFC 204 fight with Mirsad Bektic, promotion seeking featherweight replacement

Next week’s UFC return to England has suffered a late casualty to the main card’s lineup, and the promotion is seeking a short-notice replacement.

England’s own Arnold Allen (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is out of his main-card opener against Mirsad Bektic (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 204, a promotion official today told MMAjunkie. The UFC is on the hunt for someone to step in on about a week’s notice.

UFC 204 takes place Oct. 8 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass. In North America, the event is slotted for its normal broadcast times. But for locals in Manchester, the event starts at 11:30 p.m., and the main card begins at 3 a.m. with a headlining middleweight title bout with Manchester native and champion Michael Bisping in a rematch with Dan Henderson.

Allen, a Cage Warriors veteran, is 2-0 since joining the UFC with a submission victory over Alam Omer (which earned “Performance of the Night” honors) and a decision win over Yaotzin Meza. The 22-year-old has a four-fight winning streak and was hoping to make it five straight in front of his home fans, but now that opportunity is put on hold. (Below, check out Allen’s post-fight interview from UFC Fight Night 84, where he beat Meza.)

Mirsad Bektic

Bektic is No. 14 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings. He is 3-0 since joining the UFC with decision victories over Chas Skelly and Paul Redmond, as well as a recent TKO win over Lucas Martins. The 25-year-old Bosnian fighter, who’s previously competed for Victory FC, RFA and Titan FC, is hoping to return from a 16-month injury layoff when he fights at UFC 204 – provided a replacement for Allen can be found in time.

The UFC 204 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson – for middleweight title
• Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi
• Jimi Manuwa vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Daniel Omielanczuk vs. Stefan Struve
• Mirsad Bektic vs. TBA

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Iuri Alcantara vs. Brad Pickett
• Ian Entwistle vs. Rob Font
• Davey Grant vs. Damian Stasiak
• Leon Edwards vs. Albert Tumenov

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Mike Perry vs. Danny Roberts
• Adriano Martins vs. Leonardo Santos
• Marc Diakiese vs. Reza Madadi

For more on UFC 204, check out the UFC Rumors section of the card.

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