British welterweight Arnold Allen, who lost to Movsar Yevloyev by unanimous decision a week ago at UFC 297 in Toronto, believes the judges made a mistake in giving the Russian a 29-28 triple-overtime victory.
“Everyone says I won the first and third rounds and I agree with that,” the Brit said in a video posted on his Youtube channel. “I’m very upset as this is not how I wanted to start 2024 and I feel I deserved to win. I don’t want to whine and cry and I have no ill will towards my opponent or his team, but I’ve re-watched the fight a few times before telling you how I feel”
Moreover, Allen is convinced he did not break the rules in the third round when he delivered four illegal knee strikes to his opponent’s head.
“I threw some knee strikes and at this point I believe they were legal. I asked for an explanation of the rules backstage, but no one was ever able to clarify the episode for me. Mark Goddard is a great referee, one of the best, but I think he made a mistake this time”
“I was close to finishing the fight early. My opponent was stunned and his hand was in the air every time I hit my knee. I was lifting him up with every punch. Even if he touched the canvas with his hand, it was only with his fingers, not resting on his palm, so it was all by the book. And yes, I do believe I was close to an early win.”
With his eighth win in the UFC, undefeated Movsar Yevloev moved up to No. 5 in the organization’s welterweight rankings, and expects to be the next opponent for the winner of the title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Elijah Topuria, which headlines UFC 298 on Feb. 17 in Anaheim.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/33771-arnold-allen-zayavil-o-pobede-nad-movsarom-evloevym.html?rand=19907
