Today, multiple sources have confirmed with The Sprawl that a featherweight contest between Arnold Allen (11-1) and Makwan Amirkhani (13-2) has been added to the UFC London event, set for March 18 at the O2 Arena.
“Almighty” Allen, 22, is currently 2-0 in his UFC tenure after picking up wins over Alan Omer and Yaotzin Meza. He was due to compete on the UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson II main card against rising prospect Mirsad Bektic back in October, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The BKK product – who now trains out of the world renowned Tristar gym in Montreal, Canada – recently spoke to The Sprawl backstage at BCMMA 18 and expressed his displeasure of only having fought twice in the past two years. You can watch that interview below:
28-year-old Amirkhani has had an identical lay-off to Allen, having not fought since his unanimous decision victory over Mike Wilkinson this past February, during the UFC’s last visit to London. Amirkhani, who is also known as “Mr Finland”, holds a record of 3-0 inside the Octagon, having dispatched Andy Ogle and Masio Fullen inside of the first round, as well as the Wilkinson victory. Prior to his UFC career, Amirkhani collected the scalp of BAMMA featherweight and bantamweight champion, Tom Duquesnoy, choking the Frenchman unconscious less than two minutes into their 2013 contest.
