Another day in MMA, another injury, and it’s resulted in a very different fight on an upcoming card. I’ll give my thoughts on the new bout and the card in general below.
Rick Glenn vs. Arnold Allen, TUF 28 Finale
Due to an injury to former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Rick Glenn has agreed to step up on short notice and fight Arnold Allen at the TUF 28 Finale, which takes place November 30 at the Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. This new bout has officially been confirmed by the UFC.
Glenn (21-5-1) is 3-2 so far in the UFC since coming over from WSOF and victory FC in 2016. He opened his UFC career with a tough decision loss to Evan Dunham in a bout that won “Fight of the Night” but was able to rebound nicely with back-to-back decision wins over Phillipe Nover and Gavin Tucker. He then dropped a decision to Myles Jury but once again got back in the win column with a split decision win over Dennis Bermudez this past summer. Considering 17 of Glenn’s career wins have come by stoppage, he will certainly be looking to get a finish in this fight against Allen, though that’s easier said than done against such a quality opponent.
Allen (13-1) is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC and overall is riding a six-fight win streak at the moment, making him one of the top featherweight prospects in the UFC considering he’s just 24 years of age. Allen opened up his UFC career with a submission nod over Alan Omer back in 2015 in a bout that won him a “Performance of the Night” award and has since followed it up with decision wins over Yaotzin Meza and Makwan Amirkhani and a submission win over mads Burnell in his last fight. The biggest problem with Allen is that he has only fought once a year for the past four years, so this bout will mark the first time he’s competed twice in a year since 2014. Presumably healthy now, he’ll be looking to stay the course and continue his winning ways.
The odds are not yet out for this card but should be dropping soon. I’d expect Allen to be a slight favorite just based on the fact that he’s on such a long win streak right now, though Glenn could be worth a look if he’s a big-enough underdog.
Also on this card is the five-round main event featuring welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Rafael dos Anjos. It’s very likely that Usman will receive a title shot if he’s victorious in that bout. The odds are not out yet for that fight either but expect Usman to be a considerable favorite. Additionally, the TUF 28 heavyweight finale and the women’s featherweight finale will take place on this card, as well as presumably a number of fights considering fighters from the show who did not make it to the finals. There’s also a very intriguing bantamweight bout between Pedro Munhoz and Bryan Caraway set for this card, which willl be the fifth and final UFC event of this November.
