Arnold Allen’s path to victory Saturday was a bit unexpected but he got the job done in statement making fashion.
In case there were questions, Allen (20-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) proved he could stand with one of the division’s best strikers, as he defeated Giga Chikadze (15-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-29, 29-28). The featherweight bout opened up the UFC 304 main card at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Allen seemed to improve as the fight went on. After a close round that the judges scored for Chikadze, Allen pressed the action for the remaining 10 minutes. It was death by a thousand papercuts for Chikadze, who was slowly bloodied and bruises by Allen’s aggressive attack.
There were no knockdowns or significant damaging blows, but Allen’s change of rhythm and diverse striking arsenal puzzled the former Glory Kickboxing kickboxer Chikadze until the final bell.
Arnold Allen snaps his two-fight skid with a decision victory over Giga Chikadze at #UFC304.
Who should he fight next? pic.twitter.com/wtzSgeUUzb
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 28, 2024
With the victory, Allen snaps a two-fight skid comprised of defeats to Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev. Those two losses were the only of his UFC tenure and came after a 12-fight winning streak.
As for Chikadze, he loses for the second time in three outings. In his fight previous to Saturday, he defeated Alex Caceres by unanimous decision. That fight was in August 2023. Chikadze had not competed since then due to injury.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 304 results include:
- Arnold Allen def. Giga Chikadze via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
- Bruna Brasil def. Molly McCann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons unanimous unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:12
- Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:50
- Mick Parkin def. Lukasz Brzeski via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:23
- Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
