Max Holloway returned to winning form with a dominant unanimous decision win over Arnold Allen in the featherweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the T-Mobile Centre in Kansas City, Missouri, on the morning of Sunday 16 April.
Holloway continued his record of winning all non-title fights in the past 10 years, and in the process handed Allen his first loss in the UFC (and second career MMA defeat overall). ‘Blessed’ also cleared 3 000 total significant strikes in the UFC, extending his lead over the roster.
For context, second place is Frankie Edgar with 1 801 and three of the top five have retired. Holloway also further separated himself for most total strikes landed in UFC, adding to the 3 217 total strikes he had going in. He is ahead of Georges St-Pierre (No 2), Nate Diaz (No 3) and Edgar (No 4), none of whom are active UFC fighters.
And it was the volume of Holloway’s striking that took him to victory on Sunday morning, as the 31-year-old simply outstruck his opponent over 25 minutes to earn a 49-46 49-46 48-47 unanimous decision triumph via the judges’ scorecards.
“Kansas, I love you guys. I love everybody, but please. When this man, [Allen], this freakin' beast of a man right here takes the microphone, please let's not boo the man. Let's cheer for him. He's a warrior. It takes two to dance and he did it," Holloway said during his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Daniel Cormier.
Holloway, who has been beaten three times by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, will hope the division’s interim champ, Yair Rodriguez, can beat the Australian at UFC 290 in July and perhaps pave the way for Blessed to have another title shot.
The rest of the main card saw Edson Barboza make quick work of Billy Quarantillo via a first-round knockout in their featherweight clash; Azamat Murzakanov outpointed Dustin Jacoby in the light heavyweight division; Ion Cutelaba knocked out Tanner Boser in the first round of their light heavyweight match; Pedro Munhoz got the better of Chris Gutierrez via unanimous decision in the bantamweight category; and Rafa Garcia outpointed Clay Guida in a lightweight opener.
The next UFC event is a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 23 April 2023, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Sergei Pavlovic and Curtis Blaydes.