Arnold Allen puts on clinic against Melquizael Costa at UFC Vegas 117

Arnold Allen faced Melquizael Costa in a featherweight main event with title contention at stake. Costa opened with a spinning back kick, but Allen responded with a short right hand and controlled the fight on the floor. Costa later reversed position in the first round, landing ground strikes and attempting to attack Allen’s neck before the round ended. The second round became a tense exchange of Allen’s southpaw boxing and Costa’s kicking, with Costa targeting Allen’s lead leg. In the third round, Allen countered leg kicks with punches, hurt Costa, and delivered ground-and-pound as Costa struggled to recover. Allen carried momentum into the fourth round with continued pressure and defensive discipline.

"Costa landed a solid spinning back kick to the midsection in the early going, while Allen stunned the "Dalmatian" with a short right hand, then spent the next minute or so keeping him in all sorts of trouble on the floor. Costa recovered, however, and turned the tables on Allen midway through the first frame, sweeping to top position and smashing the Englishman with a couple of hard ground punches. Costa tried to press his advantage and take Allen's neck while he was hurt, but the round expired without decisive action."

"The second round settled into more of the expected style clash, with Allen's fast, accurate southpaw boxing scoring on the one side and Costa's arsenal of kicks on the other. The result was a much more tense and subtle affair than the first five minutes, through Costa's heavy work on Allen's lead leg was an obvious bright spot for the Brazilian. That dynamic held true in Round 3, as Allen's tactical choice to meet Costa's leg kicks with counter punches looked first questionable, then inspired when he hurt Costa 90 seconds into the frame."

"In the second half of the round, Allen's sharp punching started to tell on Costa, who went down and weathered a minute or more of laser ground-and-pound before he could get back to his feet. It may have been close on the scorecards heading into Round 4, but the momentum clearly belonged to Allen, and he did not let up. True to form, "Almighty" did not relax his defensive discipline, but kept up the pressure and intensity, and"

Read at Sherdog