Turns out that wonky UFC 304 start time was more than just an inconvenience.
Top 5 featherweight contender, Arnold Allen, was trying to adjust his training schedule to prepare for the controversial broadcast schedule last month in Manchester, which irritated local and international fighters alike.
It nearly cost him his life.
“After my last sparring, I was driving home because the [start] time was f*cked up,” Allen said on YouTube. “I underslept that day because my team — there was an event that night and people were fighting so my team had to train earlier. I was driving home half asleep and I spun my car out, and crashed it into a barrier somewhere. That was on the way home after my last sparring. I was so tired, and it was pretty scary, facing the wrong way on the motorway.”
“You don’t ever want to see the cars coming at you,” Allen continued. “I’ve been driving since I was 19, that was my first crash. Definitely not ideal the Saturday before your fight, a few days out. No one got hurt, didn’t hit anyone else, damaged my car a bit, and it was 100 percent because I was half asleep, rushing home trying to get back to bed. So hopefully I never do that again because that sucked, and I damaged my car which I’m pissed off about.”
Allen went on to defeat Giga Chikadze at UFC 304 by way of unanimous decision.