UFC Fight Night 107 results from last night: Makwan Amirkhani vs Arnold Allen fight recap

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight prospects Makwan Amirkhani and Arnold Allen threw down last night (March 18, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 107 inside The 02 in London, England.

Undefeated in his first three fights inside the Octagon, Amirkhani had a lot on the line last time. With another win, Amirkhani could potentially break into the rankings, and at the very least he’d be quite close. While Allen was not yet at his opponent’s level of name recognition, but the young athlete had already proven himself a high-level prospect. If he could continue his winning ways against a step up in competition, the Tristar-product could find himself in top half of the division sooner than later.

Amirkhani burst out the gate like usual and soon landed a takedown. Before long, Amirkhani had jumped onto the neck, transitioning and looking to force a tapout. However, Allen remained calm, fought hands, and returned to his feet.

Immediately after standing, Allen landed a takedown of his own. From top position, he controlled and landed some solid shots for about a minute, but Amirkhani was soon able to escape and return to his own offensive wrestling. It didn’t work quite as well this time, as the two spent much of the remaining round changing position along the fence.

All in all, it was a competitive round, but Allen may have sealed the deal with a late flurry.

“Mr. Finland” burst into the second round with another takedown and wasted no time in attempting the d’arce choke. After a scramble that looked fairly threatening, Allen landed in top position and went back to landing clean elbows.

Allen controlled and damaged well for a couple minutes, but Amirkhani was able to scramble up and shoot for a double leg, capitalizing on a poor guillotine attempt to gain top position. From his back, Allen was the more active man, as Amirkhani was too tired to get much offense going from top position.

Going for the guillotine made it a far closer round than necessary for Allen.

Amirkhani once again wasted little time in shooting, but his empty gas tank made it fairly easy to deny. Allen began to land some big punches, but Amirkhani changed the momentum a bit with a chain of takedown attempts that landed the two in the clinch.

Following a series of reversals and scrambles from both men, Amirkhani gained top position, but a referee stood them up quickly. Allen then drove his foe into the fence and looked for takedowns. He finally finished a takedown in the final 30 seconds, landing a couple decent elbows and taking mount before the final bell.

At the end of 15 back-and-forth minutes, Allen was awarded the decision victory.

Allen showed both his talent and inexperience in this match. In terms of talent, Allen was able to keep up with the wrestling and jiu-jitsu scrambles of his opponent, despite that being Amirkhani’s wheelhouse. Over time, Allen used his energy more efficiently, allowing him to capitalize on his opponent’s sloppier moments.

At the same time, this should have been a far more definitive victory for Allen. When on the feet, he generally smacked Amirkhani around, but he was too willing to wrestle to truly take advantage. Similarly, Allen often gave up top position in pursuit of mount or the submission, which gave Amirkhani openings to scramble.

Nevertheless, Allen’s athleticism and skill earned him a quality victory, and Fight IQ mistakes can be forgiven considering he’s just 23 years old.

On the other hand, Amirkhani’s style finally caught up to him. He’s not a comfortable striker in any way, and he gets around that by throwing wild attacks and diving for takedowns. That’s well and good for the first five minutes, but it’s extremely exhausting and can be reversed.

Amirkhani suffered both flaws in this loss.

Much of Amirkhani’s success comes from his mentality and his excellent jiu-jitsu. On the mat, Amirkhani is damn solid, and he’s able to get it there so consistently because he never gives up on his shots. If he can hide his shots better behind a kickboxing game that makes sense and/or manage his energy better, he could be a true contender.

Last night at UFC Fight Night 107, Arnold Allen outlasted Makwan Amirkhani in a fun match filled with scrambles. How high is Allen’s ceiling?

For complete UFC Fight Night 107: “Manuwa vs Anderson” results and play-by-play, click HERE!