UFC's Arnold Allen wants to be recognized on High Street after snub from British fans

LONDON – UFC featherweight Arnold Allen isn’t the biggest of stars. But he was a little miffed when his own countrymen wrote him off prior to meeting Makwan Amirkhani.

“To be fair, I haven’t proven myself,” Allen (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie following his split-decision win over Amirkhani (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed main card of this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 107 event at The O2 in London. “Maybe now, but I see on social media, bloody English fans saying on the UFC’s posts, ‘Who’s Arnold Allen? He’s going to get his ass kicked. Who’s this guy?’

“C’mon. I’m homegrown, man. Give me some love.”

Of course, mockery and criticism is pretty much a national pastime for Brits, so Allen shouldn’t be too surprised. The online shade might also have been a few Amirkhani fans making their loyalties known.

The Iran-born Amirkhani got a lot of press for his matinee-idol looks and work with the famed SBG Ireland. Prior to UFC Fight Night 107, he was on a three-fight tear. It’s reasonable many thought Allen would lose.

But in the octagon this past Saturday, he looked a lot more like an up-and-coming star than his opponent. Over three rounds, he shut down Amirkhani’s grappling attack and consistently won positional battles. On the feet, he landed more frequently and overall was the dominant fighter. He’s now won three straight UFC fights.

“I knew this was the breakout fight,” he said. “I said it before the fight. People will start knowing who I am, and maybe people will stop me and my dog on High Street – I don’t know.”

For you non-Brits, that means he’d get recognized on the main street of his hometown in Felixstowe, Suffolk. But at the very least, U.K. fans could give him a little more credit. He just took out a promising up-and-comer. And at 23, he’s got a long career ahead of him.

For more on UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Events section of the site.