Moments ago, saw Dan Hooker (Ngāti Maniapoto) suffer another loss in the UFC, this time against 'Allmighty' Arnold Allen in an unsuccessful return to the featherweight division in UFC London's co-main event.
“The Hangman” is now on a two-fight losing streak, with Allen’s perfect streak of eight wins going up to nine.
With respect shown between the two men during media appearances throughout the week, the fight was an explosion in the middle of the first round, with both men testing each other early, and a flurry of offense that sent the London crowd into a frenzy.
Though Hooker was able to control the octagon early on, it was Allen that was able to clock his opponent first. Allen himself was stunned too, dropping to a knee from a rocking head strike, but he returned with more head strikes himself. Those strikes didn’t drop Hooker, but it still forced referee Dan Mohavedi to stop the match and give Allen the TKO victory.
Allen wasn't the only hometown fighter to notch a win for the UK. Tom Aspinall defeated veteran heavyweight Alexander Volkov in the main event, and scousers Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett and Molly 'Meatball' McCann both won with a submission for Pimblett and an emphatic knockout blow via spinning elbow for McCann, to name a few.
In just a week’s time, Ngāti Kahungunu fighter and Te Ao Toa presenter Kaiwhare Kara-France will be next up for City Kickboxing as he looks to become the next flyweight contender. But to meet flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, he must first defeat Dagestan fighter Askar Askarov.