Suplex would be fine first impression for Cage Warriors 55's Marc Allen

When it comes to fighters to look up to, Marc Allen could do a lot worse than Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Allen (7-2) on Saturday fights Paul Redmond (7-3) in a lightweight bout on the main card of Cage Warriors 55, which takes place at The Helix in Dublin. The main card streams live at MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at 4 p.m. ET.

Allen comes in riding a three-fight win streak. To make it four, he wouldn’t object if he got a chance to his nickname – “Suplex” – on display in front of Redmond’s home-country fans in Ireland.

Allen loves the throw, and after watching Nurmagomedov land an astonishing 21 throw takedowns in this past week’s UFC 160 event, maybe he’s got a goal against Redmond – though a spinning elbow, a la UFC champ Jones, isn’t something he’d object to, either.

“(My nickname) mostly has to do with my wrestling, and that’s what my strongest side is in the MMA game,” Allen told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “Belly-to-back (is my favorite), of course. But (Nurmagomedov) is somewhat special, isn’t he? That was awesome.”

Allen started his pro MMA career in 2010 with a loss, but then went on a four-fight run in his native United Kingdom. And that first setback didn’t deter him, even though he went nearly a year before his second pro fight.

“I won all my amateur fights, so the confidence was there,” Allen said. “The loss itself, I didn’t put down to me being a bad fighter. It was just bad tactics.”

Against Redmond, he’ll be hoping for mostly perfect tactics. Though he has a deal just for this fight with Cage Warriors, he’s hopeful that the first impression he leaves the organization with will be one that will get him asked back.

“I’m really excited to fight for Cage Warriors,” he said. “They’re really well-known. With Cage Warriors, there’s a lot more publicity and they go abroad a lot. It’s pretty exciting times for me, actually. It’s just this one for now, so I’m going to make a good impression so I can get more afterward.”

It remains to be seen whether that good impression comes with a suplex, a spinning elbow or the other favorite in his arsenal, a good old-fashioned kick to the head.

For more on Cage Warriors 55, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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