Yes, the UFC news was right, the featherweight great Max Holloway is back for a 5-round main event with the red-hot contender Arnold Allen. No matter what kind of position Holloway is in for the title, fans can count on him fighting against the best and putting on a show while doing so.
Read along for a betting analysis and a Holloway vs Allen prediction before you make your UFC picks this weekend.
Holloway vs. Allen Information
Max Holloway vs Arnold Allen
Location of the fight: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO.
Date and Time: April 15, 2023. 8:30 PM ET.
How to Watch: ESPN, ESPN+
Last Fight Record
Holloway is looking to get back to his winning ways after losing his third time to Volkanovski last summer.
Allen is coming off an anticlimactic TKO win over the tough Calvin Kattar in October of 2022.
Holloway vs. Allen Betting Analysis
Max Holloway
If you are a fan of the UFC, you know how dominant Holloway has been over the past decade. He is 23-7 in his pro-MMA career, but 6 of those losses have come from Volkanovski, Poirier, and McGregor. He also has 12 finishes in his career.
Holloway averages a whopping 7.24 significant strikes landed per minute inside the UFC octagon. That is as high of a pace and volume of strikes as someone can have in MMA. It is impressive to watch, and it will surely be his game plan this weekend.
Arnold Allen
Allen is one of the most impressive prospects to come through the featherweight division. He did it by keeping his head down and winning fights. With a 12-fight winning streak going, Allen clearly has confidence that he can win against anybody that stands in front of him.
The British southpaw fighter is 19-1, with 11 finishes in his MMA career. With a much more deliberate approach, Allen averages 3.40 significant strikes landed per minute in the UFC. He will also be entering this weekend’s bout with an average of 1.35 takedowns landed per 15 minutes.
Updates
No injuries have been reported to the UFC or the Missouri Athletic Commission.
Holloway vs. Allen Betting Preview
Before we get to the Holloway vs Allen prediction, let’s break down the betting side of this matchup.
Holloway is the -175 betting favorite over the +145 Allen, according to UFC odds. These are very good lines because it really is a closely matched fight on paper. It will fully be decided on who is the better man on Saturday night, which is why the UFC is the best at what they do.
This fight is favored to go the distance, but Holloway is +190 to win inside the distance, and Allen is +375. It is going to be very tough to put Holloway down, but we don’t know how Allen will perform in a fight against the best in the world.
There will be lots of emotions, nerves, and excitement that Allen will experience on Saturday that he never has before. Holloway has embedded himself into the spotlight and big fights for the last decade.
Holloway vs. Allen Betting Prediction
When you see Holloway on the UFC schedule, it is an automatic must-watch event. Even if you can only make the main event this weekend, please do yourself a favor and watch how great Holloway is.
The official Holloway vs Allen prediction is that “Blessed” will get his hand raised at the end of the night. He is going to be too much for the inexperienced Allen to handle over 25 minutes.
It is tough to see anyone getting finished here, but be prepared for a war where Allen will need to dig deep and prove that he has that “thing” inside of him that can get him through wars in the octagon.
The pressure and boxing abilities of Max Holloway will start to break Allen down as they get into the championship rounds. Holloway only tends to get better as the fight goes on, and he has plenty of motivation to prove he still belongs on top of the division.
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