UFC 297 Clash: Allen Vs. Evloev!

This weekend (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight contenders Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev will go to war at UFC 297 inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Allen enters this contest following the first defeat of his UFC career, a five-round battle with Max Holloway. Though Allen didn’t manage to secure a title shot, he did confirm his position amongst the Top 5, and there’s still time for the 29-year-old Brit to make his way back into immediate title contention. Meanwhile, undefeated Evloev (17-0) finally gets the big jump in competition that he’s been chasing. He’s won seven straight inside the Octagon, and if he can produce similar results against “Almighty,” it’s time to take him seriously as a title threat.

Let’s take a closer look at the keys to victory for each man:

Arnold Allen

Record: 19-2
Key Wins: Calvin Kattar (UFC Vegas 63, Sodiq Yusuff (UFC Vegas 23), Dan Hooker (UFC London), Gilbert Melendez (UFC 239), Makwan Amirkhani (UFC Fight Night 107), Mads Burnell (UFC Fight Night 130)
Key Losses: None
Keys to Victory: Allen is a really quality technician. A sharp Southpaw distance striker, Allen is capable of picking apart opponents or occasionally switching it up with a grappling attack.

Obviously, Allen has to play the counter wrestler here. He’s the superior striker by a fair measure, but if he’s put on his back, that advantage goes out the window. However, that doesn’t mean he can afford to solely be reactive, because Evloev is a pretty solid kickboxer himself.

Allen has to carefully pressure. He cannot overexpose himself and let Evloev in on easy takedowns, but if he’s advancing, he can instead force bad shots from his opponent. Lopes demonstrated that Evloev doesn’t always react well when pushed onto the back foot, so perhaps Allen can take advantage too.

This fight will also be a test of distance. Allen will want to chop away at Evloev’s lead leg, but he’ll have to do so at opportune moments.

Movsar Evloev

Record: 17-0
Key Wins: Dan Ige (UFC Vegas 56), Diego Lopes (UFC 288), Hakeem Dawodu (UFC 263), Enrique Barzola (UFC Fight Night 162), Nik Lentz (UFC 257)
Key Losses: None
Keys to Victory: Evloev is a very complete fighter. His wrestling is his most standout attribute by a considerable margin, but his smooth kickboxing and ability to fluidly blend the two together is a major part of his overall success.

In this bout, Evloev wants to find his way to top position. It’s been some years since Allen was really out-wrestled, but it has happened. Most notably, Mads Burnell gave Allen hell with his combination of pressure boxing and takedowns, and perhaps Evloev can find his own success with a similar game plan.

I don’t know that just range striking and well-timed shots — the default Evloev approach — will be enough to get Allen down. He’s likely going to have to force the issue a bit more, chain wrestle more relentless, and generally make it a bit of a dog fight if he’s to offset Allen’s timing and distance management enough to really dominate.

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Bottom Line

Young, active and highly skilled, these are the Featherweight contenders we should be talking about in regard to future title shots.

Allen, admittedly, has only recently gotten around to being more active and is coming off a loss. All the same, he’s a Top 5-ranked contender. If he bounces back, a title eliminator against the likes of the Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega winner would make sense. Max Holloway remains an unknown factor in the Featherweight title mix, but victory puts Allen close to the mountaintop.

The same is true for Evloev. He enters his first clash opposite a Top 5 opponent with reasonable momentum. He’s won a lot of fights against good opposition, but he hasn’t created any overly memorable moments in the process. That equates to a slow rise up the ladder, but once again, victory here establishes him in title eliminator territory.

At UFC 297, Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev will open the pay-per-view (PPV) main card. Which man has his hand raised?

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 297 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNEWS at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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