What’s on the line for Holloway, Allen at UFC Kansas City?

A former dominant champion will attempt to make one other push for a title shot when the UFC touches down in Missouri this week.

Max Holloway (23-7 MMA, 19-7 UFC) on Saturday meets Arnold Allen (19-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC), who’s unbeaten in his UFC profession and hasn’t misplaced in practically 9 years. They headline UFC on ESPN 44, which takes place at T-Cell Middle in Kansas Metropolis, Mo. The principle card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

Holloway is in a novel place. He misplaced the featherweight title to Alexander Volkanovski in a detailed struggle in December 2019. Seven months later, he dropped a second resolution to him in a rematch. After wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez in principal occasions, Holloway bought one other crack on the belt in July 2022, however once more misplaced a call to Volkanovski. Getting a fourth shot on the champ could possibly be exceedingly troublesome, given he’s 0-3 towards him.

However a path to a title shot is likely to be simpler for Allen, who returned to 145 kilos when he made his UFC debut in June 2015. He’s solely had 10 fights within the promotion in practically eight years, however could have his third struggle in 13 months when he meets Holloway. After wins over Dan Hooker and Kattar, he can stake his declare with a win over Holloway.

Volkanovski is ready to satisfy interim featherweight champ Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July in Las Vegas. A win for Rodriguez may lead to a fast rematch for Volkanovski, which might additional delay the pecking order. However a Volkanovski win could have him doubtless in search of new blood.

This week’s “Spinning Again Clique” panel of “Beautiful” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Danny Segura broke down this week’s UFC headliner and extra with host Mike Bohn. Try their dialogue within the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode under.

“Spinning Again Clique” is launched every Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You’ll be able to watch this week’s episode within the video above.