Arnold Allen and Leon Edwards - First Pic credits: MMA Junkie
Arnold Allen heaped praises on his fellow British fighter Leon Edwards and called him the best MMA fighter from the UK currently
Fresh off his homecoming victory at UFC London, Arnold Allen made an appearance on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The Brit who normally trains at Tristar Gym with Firas Zahabi, concluded the remainder of his camp at UFC welterweight Leon Edward’s gym, Renegade.
Allen discussed his nine-fight win streak, his case for title contention and his experience facing a veteran like Dan Hooker. He elucidated further on how training with Leon Edwards has helped him and extolled him as the best British fighter in the game.
Leon in all certainty will contest for the welterweight gold next against Kamaru Usman. Helwani mentioned that many people consider Allen as the best British fighter currently, to which Allen said,
” I don’t think so. I feel Leon Edwards is the best. That man is just different level. We sparred a good few rounds. And it helped me a lot. He is the number 1 guy. ”
‘Rocky’ is commonly accepted as one of the most well-rounded fighters in the game today, and this words of insight into him game from Allen solidifies that acceptance.
It has been a back-breaking journey to the top for UK’s welterweight contender Leon Edwards. His impressive nine-fight win streak came through a series of setbacks, hard-cheese, and a series of uncertainties. But it looks like his patience and perseverance is finally paying dividends.
Sized up as the fighter that possesses the best skills on paper apart from the champion, Edwards has been rallying for his chance at the gold for quite some time. The pair met back in 2015, when Kamaru Usman beat Edwards by unanimous decision.
That has been the only loss for the British-Jamaican fighter, who has improved his skill set by leaps and bounds. Speaking to BT Sport, UFC boss-man gave props to the Brit for taking on tough competitors, and even accepting the Khamzat Chimaev fight twice when nobody wanted to fight him.
He said, “I was talking about how nobody wanted to fight Khamzat , he was gonna fight Khamzat twice. He was gonna fight Khamzat twice in the position he was in, you can’t take anything away from this kid.”
Speaking about his next fight, Dana White said, “He absolutely deserves the next title shot, and yes, I’m wishing for nothing but good luck for Edwards this year, he’s had a rough run… Usman, we’re waiting for his hand to get cleared. His hand gets cleared and he’s got the fight.”
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