Arnold Allen expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of his fight against Movsar Evloev at UFC 297, citing a controversial ruling in Canada that considered Evloev a downed fighter after Allen landed a series of knees to his head while Evloev had his fingertips on the canvas.
Arnold Allen isn’t exactly over the moon about his recent fight against Movsar Evloev. It happened in January, at UFC 297. The match was a bit of a mess, to be honest.
In the third round, Allen got in a few good knees to Evloev’s head. Problem was, Evloev had his fingertips on the canvas. Now, in some places, that’s all good. But in Canada? Not so much.
Evloev was seen as a downed fighter, so in steps referee Marc Goddard. He let Evloev reset, get checked out by the doc, and then they were back at it. In the end, Evloev took the win with a unanimous decision.
That’s got Allen in a bit of a funk. It’s his first losing streak, ever.
Allen had a chat with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour. He gave his side of the story, talked about what went down in the cage.
“Being a ref’s gotta be tough,” Allen said. “You make the right call, no one pats you on the back. You mess up, everyone’s on your case. So, I get it. The rule’s a bit fuzzy, it’s not the same everywhere. But that’s how it is. Maybe from his angle, he was just following the rules.”
Allen’s seen the slow-mo replays. He was trying to pull Evloev off the canvas, make it all legal. He thought it was okay to knee him with the fingertips on the canvas. So he thought, “I’ll pull him up, knee him hard as I lift him.”
But in the heat of the moment, it’s tough to see what’s going on. To make the right call.
“It needs to be the same everywhere,” Allen said. “It’s so frustrating. You wouldn’t see this in football. You don’t go to Brazil and they’re playing by different rules. The game’s the same, no matter where you play.”
Allen doesn’t think the grounded fighter rules in Canada were made clear to him before the fight. But he admits, he could’ve missed it. There was a lot going on.
“Before the fight, it’s all a blur,” he said. “You’ve got the adrenaline, the nerves. But I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I asked about it and was told everything was normal. But maybe that’s just how I remember it. I was in the zone, just focused. But in my mind, everything was normal.”
After the fight, Andy Foster, director of the California State Athletic Commission, proposed a new grounded fighter rule. It would make it so that fighters are down only when a body part other than hands and feet is on the canvas.
The loss is still hard for Allen to swallow. He felt like he was turning the tide before Goddard stepped in. But he’s trying to make peace with it.
“I felt like I was on the way to a finish,” Allen said. “But it makes me look like a sore loser saying it. Any fighter knows, when you’re in a fight and you hit someone with a shot, or you feel a submission come on, you can feel it. ‘This is it. He’s hurt. I’m closing in.’ But fair play to him. He didn’t play it up, didn’t act it up. The doctor came in, had a look, and he didn’t complain. He got straight back into it. So, respect to him for that.”
“It sucks,” Allen admitted. “It’s a big kick in the gut. But that’s the game. It’s a tough sport. You can do everything right and still not get the result. He’s a top competitor. It was never going to be easy.”
Allen, who’s 30, doesn’t want to wait too long before his next fight. He’s hoping to get back in the octagon this summer, maybe for the UFC’s rumored return to England.
“Maybe summer,” Allen said. “I’ve got a couple of old injuries I need to fix. It was a long camp. So summer would be nice. Someone mentioned July [for the return to England]. July would be cool. I’ve got to see a doctor this week about a few things, but hopefully nothing too serious.”