Fight Path: Cage Warriors’ Arnold Allen fighting like father before him

Plenty of people ask Arnold Allen if he’s now a fighter because his father is a fighter.

That stands to reason. His father, Pacer Allen, became one of the more unique MMA fighters in England when he transitioned from strongman competitions to the cage several years ago. Allen had watched his father go from traveling the country to show off his physique and strength abilities to using blows against an opponent.

Must’ve seemed cool, one would think. But that was exactly what Allen had to overcome to start his own promising career.

“Because it was something my dad did, that’s what made me think it wasn’t cool,” Allen laughed to MMAjunkie. “That’s what I had to get over. People think I did it because of him, but that was actually the thing I had to get over.”

He has, and he has so far flourished. Heading into today’s Cage Warriors Fight Night 11, where he will face Tobias Huber in a 145-pound bout, Allen has produced a 6-0 professional record following an undefeated amateur career.

It’s fitting that the 20-year-old Allen will be fighting on a card headlined by Jack Mason’s matchup against Patrick Vallee, because Mason has been a driving force behind Allen’s career. Once Allen began traveling to a new gym early in his career, Mason became a mentor and training partner, which boosted the confidence for the fighter who had his first fight as a teenager.

In fact, Allen was already a professional by 18 years old. He has finished five of his six fights, continuing the thirst for knockouts he first gained with boxing lessons as he was growing up. But he wanted to do more than just throw his fists, and when his father introduced him to the sport, despite the fact it seemed uncool he might be doing something his father did, he went for it.

“I’ve got some great support, so this is something I’ve been able to do full time,” he said. “It’s what I want to do.”

Son of a strongman

Allen was raised in Felixstowe, a British seaside town. He and his brother were both involved in soccer growing up, but their real love was watching wrestling, and then acting out the moves and the showmanship themselves.

They had, after all, seem showmanship up close. Their father was traveling throughout the country for his strongman competitions, showing off the build he crammed into a 5-foot-7 frame.

When he got into his later 30s, using the experience he learned at his doorman jobs, he moved out of strongman and into the not-quite-as-regulated sport of MMA in Britain. His two boys, meanwhile, were looking for ways to mimic their favorite wrestlers.

Allen’s physical interests got more structured when he was about 12 and started some boxing training. He even went on take a few fights, but he wanted to be able to do more than just strike with his hands.

“It just seemed so one-dimensional,” he said. “I felt like it would be fun to do more than just that.”

Noticing his son’s growing interest in his own current sport, Allen’s father helped to supply him with videos of MMA fights. He also started taking his son to the gym with him and introducing him around, helping him build an early support group for what would become his chosen passion.

“It was a good feeling, getting in and trying it,” he said of his early MMA training. “It just felt right.”

An undefeated fighter

Allen’s first MMA experience came when he was just 15 years old, before he had really done any of that training. He was just using his boxing skills, although he ended up winning by guillotine choke.

“I didn’t even really know what it was,” he said. “I had seen it, and I just did it.”

He dedicated himself to much more training before he took more fights, but they all ended up the same. Even from his early training sessions, he knew he wanted to become a professional, but it was more about finding the right time.

Training with Mason also gave him confidence, he said, so when a card on which he was scheduled to fight as an amateur needed a pro to fill an open slot, he decided to make it happen. That was April 2012, and he won his pro debut by a knockout early in the second round.

After his first three wins, he caught the attention of Cage Warriors, which was a step up for him. This time, it was a first-round submission that kept him undefeated, and he won two more Cage Warriors fights to set up his Friday bout after which he hopes he can stay undefeated.

He still has plenty of help from his father, and vice versa. Allen recently worked his father’s corner as the late-40s fighter continued his career in the heavyweight division. They often even train together.

But as his father’s career is winding down, Allen’s has steady momentum. It’s momentum gained only after he decided trying something his father did didn’t violate his cool code.

“I just want to finish it,” Allen said of his style. “It’s like people say, we don’t get paid overtime, so there’s no reason to put on a boring fight to make it last. I go for the finish, because I want it to be exciting.”

For the latest on Cage Warriors Fight Night 11, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.