Arnold Allen doubtful to return at UFC London in July due to hand injury and needing a ‘reset’ after recent loss
It appears Arnold Allen will miss out on another UFC event in London.
After picking up a knockout win over Dan Hooker in his native country back in March 2022, Allen wasn’t able to appear on either of the last two cards in England due to injuries and bad timing. Now after dropping a hard-fought decision to Max Holloway at UFC Kansas City, Allen is dealing with a potentially broken left hand that he’s still waiting to get diagnosed but even if he gets good news from his doctors, it’s unlikely he’ll make a quick turnaround to compete again in July when the UFC returns to London.
“I got an x-ray on my hand but I I haven’t had the results yet,” Allen said on The MMA Hour. “I know it hurts. I’ve [hurt] both of them but the left one’s been [worse]. It don’t feel good. I’m taking a lot of painkillers since the fight. It doesn’t feel great.
“Yeah [it does feel broken]. Yeah, it does. But we’ll see. I might just sign a contract and see if I can fight in boxing gloves for an hour.”
According to Allen, the injury occurred early in his fight with Holloway when he threw a punch that connected but right away he realized something was wrong.
He obviously continued fighting through the pain but Allen admits the hand has only continued to bother him in the days since UFC Kansas City ended.
“First or second [round], I landed an overhand and he kind of turned his head and it hit him [in the back of the head],” Allen explained. “I was like that doesn’t feel good.
“Everyone I fight in the UFC has just got the hardest head. Everyone. I don’t know if I’m got fragile hands or it’s just hard heads or what.”
While there’s still a chance he’ll get good news that his hand isn’t actually broken and perhaps he just needs to rest for a few weeks, Allen still doubts he’d want to get back into another training camp for a fight in July.
As much as he’d love to compete at home again, Allen says he’s been pushing through some lingering injuries for his past couple of fights and he’d really like to take the time to heal up before booking his return to action.
Add to that, Allen is now coming off a loss for the first time in his UFC career so the last thing he wants to do is book another fight when he’s not truly ready and then he suffers the consequences of his actions inside the cage.
“After that [fight], I’d like to have a reset and it is quite soon,” Allen said. “I’d like to go in 100 percent physically, fix everything, because the last few camps — when I fought [Dan] Hooker, I was just coming off a broken hand again and it wasn’t healed but then they offered [Calvin Kattar] and I was like all right let’s go, that’s a good opportunity. I damaged it again because obviously it wasn’t healed. Then I fought Kattar at like six weeks [after], I wasn’t even sparring when they asked me. I was like let me see if I can spar tomorrow. It was OK but it wasn’t healed then. I went into that actually with a broken thing on my wrist.
“I’d like to go into camp being 100 percent, especially this next one if it’s one to get back to the top, to prove I belong there. I don’t want to be half-assing around and rushing things.”