Arnold Allen hopes to work his way back into the UFC featherweight title picture after returning to the win column with a victory over Melquizael Costa on Saturday night.
Allen (21-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) earned a hard-fought decision win over Costa (26-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in the main event of UFC Vegas 117 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, snapping the Brazilian contender’s six-fight winning streak in the process.
The win marked an important rebound for Allen, who was coming off a decision loss to Jean Silva at UFC 324 in January. Prior to that defeat, Allen had established himself as one of the top featherweights in the division with a 10-fight winning streak between 2015 and 2022.
Although pleased to get back on track, Allen admitted he does not believe his latest performance alone should vault him into an immediate title opportunity against reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Speaking during a backstage interview following the event, Allen said he believes unbeaten contender Movsar Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) has earned the next shot at the title after compiling a 10-fight UFC winning streak.
“Yeah, well, the fairy tale was a few months ago, you know, brushing that injury off and coming back and beating Jean Silva, but I think we had a good outing,” Allen said. “Bit of ring rust shaken off, I felt like I should have won, but I'm not going to keep going on about it. But a bit of ring rust shaken off, top contender beat, let's fu--ing get back on the path.”
Allen also dismissed suggestions that Silva should leapfrog Evloev in the title race, pointing to Evloev’s résumé and referencing his own narrow decision loss to the Russian contender in January 2024.
“I want to see how the division plays out a bit,” Allen said. “Movsar has got to get that title fight. I keep seeing Jean Silva getting pushed up, talks of it. I don't think so. Beating me off an 18-month layoff over a suspect decision… close decision. I don't think that deserves it. It's got to be Movsar.”
Allen added that if Evloev captures the featherweight championship, he would welcome the opportunity to avenge his previous loss.
“If Movsar wins the title, little old me sitting over here, I want my rematch,” Allen said. “I’m all about jumping the queue these days, don't you know? Before when I got my 10-fight win streak, I tried to do it the right way. I wanted to beat the best guys. Now I'm like, fu-- it, let's jump the line!”
