KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Everyone knows these famous words: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. But for Arnold Allen at UFC on ESPN 44, how he finished wasn’t good enough to get the win.
That was something UFC president Dana White emphasized as he assessed Allen’s performance in a unanimous decision loss to former featherweight champion Max Holloway in Saturday night’s main event at T-Mobile Center.
“I think that Allen looked incredible,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during the UFC on ESPN 44 post-event news conference. “I mean, if you think about it, it’s his first big night ever in a main event, whole crowd’s against him, and he came on too late. If he had fought the way he fought in the fifth round from the third round on, he would’ve had a better chance to win the fight.”
Although it was relatively competitive, Holloway (24-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) had a distinct edge (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) in the way he dictated the pace for most of the fight, which was reflected in the judges’ scores through four rounds as only one gave Round 2 to Allen. It wasn’t until the fifth round that Allen, at the urgency of his corner, hit another gear with his striking attack, and all three judges rewarded him with a 10-9 score.
By that time, it was too little too late as Holloway won the fight 49-46 twice and 48-47. White seemed to place blame on Allen’s corner for not lighting a fire under their fighter sooner.
“I’m not a corner man or a coach, but yeah, I think there should’ve been a sense of urgency earlier,” White said. “But I’m not a corner man. …
“It’s a lot of pressure for a guy (in his first UFC main event). I thought he handled it well. He’s obviously talented enough. He went five rounds with Max Holloway, one of the best ever. I just think he poured it on a little too late. But I’m not his corner man.”
For Allen, it’s back to the proverbial drawing board. Having his 12-fight winning streak snapped and losing for the first time in the UFC puts a damper on the 29-year-old Brit’s title aspirations.
White still feels good about his direction, but he might’ve felt better about it had his corner coached him up better during the fight.
“I don’t care about the guys who necessarily get out there and talk or do anything else. In this business, it’s all about how you fight. Are you good enough?” White said. “Let me tell you about how hard it is to break in the top five, especially in that weight class. And he has, and he’s a talented guy. I think that there were a lot of mistakes made tonight in the corner.
“Obviously he’s got that experience under his belt now. They’ve got to go back and figure out what went wrong, what was broken, and fix it. He’s a talented kid.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
