Report – Arnold Allen vs. Sodiq Yusuff Targeted For UFC Event On April 10
An eye-catching featherweight pairing between surging division upstarts, Arnold ‘The Bully’ Allen and fellow streaking talent, ‘Super’ Sodiq Yusuff is currently in the works to feature at a UFC Fight Night event on April 10 — with a location or venue for the tie yet to be determined by the promotion.
Expected to make his Octagon return at UFC Vegas 13 last November, Allen was left opponent-less after veteran striker, Jeremy ‘Lil’ Heathen’ Stephens was forced to remove himself from proceedings due to a niggling injury.
Himself forced from a high-profile outing against Muay Thai practitioner, Edson Barboza, Yusuff was scheduled to make the trip to ‘Fight Island’ against the Brazilian at UFC Fight Island 5 in October, however, visa issues prevented Yusuff from travelling. News of the earmarked bout was first penned by MMA Junkie reporters, Nolan King and Farah Hannoun.
Unbeaten in his last seven Octagon appearances, the first seven of his UFC run — Ipswitch native, Allen is fast approaching title contention at 145-pounds. Ranked at #9 in the official featherweight pile following his UFC Fight Night Raleigh decision win over the recently retired, Nik Lentz — Allen has yet to feature since.
Debuting in the UFC back in June of 2015, the 27-year-old has nabbed victories over Yaotzin Meza, Makwan Amirkhani, former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, Mads Burnell, Jordan Rinaldi, and former Strikeforce 155-pound best, Gilbert Melendez, prior to his judging win over Lentz.
A product of Dana White’s Contender Series, Lagos native, Yusuff made the transition to the UFC following a unanimous decision win over recent feature, Mike Davis.
4-0 so far into his promotional run, the Llyod Irvin trainee bested Suman Mokhtarian, Sheymon Moraes, Gabriel Benitez, and Team Alpha MMA staple, Andre Fili at UFC 246 in January last in a hugely-entertaining back-and-forth.
The UFC Fight Night event takes place on April 10 — with a middleweight matchup between Liverpool striker, Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till and Italian contender, Marvin ‘The Italian Dream’ Vettori expected to take headlining honours.
