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In a night across combat sports where name value seemed to be warranted over skill, Arnold Allen sent a clear reminder to the division that he is among the featherweight elite.
In the UFC Fight Night 276 main event, Allen (21-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) defeated red-hot Melquizael Costa (26-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) – nearly winning every round from every judge. The bout took place Saturday at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Allen has been atop the division for years, and while he's suffered losses, it's only come against the elite of the elite. He showed why vs. Costa, who rode a six-fight winning streak into the bout and won the 2025 MMA Junkie Breakthrough Fighter of the Year award.
It was a hard-fought battle from both men, but Allen really took advantage of Costa on the feet. He landed solid shots to Costa, who seemed a step behind and a step slower. He rocked Costa early in Round 1 and put together a significantly damaging Round 3, but somehow Costa remained in the fight for its entire scheduled duration.
With the win, Allen moves to 2-1 in his most recent three and bounces back from a loss to Jean Silva.
Costa has his momentum stopped, at least for now. His now-defunct six-fight winning streak most notably included knockouts of Dan Ige and Morgan Charriere.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 117 results: Arnold Allen halts Melquizael Costa's momentum, reminds division
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In the UFC Fight Night 276 main event, Allen (21-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) defeated red-hot Melquizael Costa (26-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) – nearly winning every round from every judge. The bout took place Saturday at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Allen has been atop the division for years, and while he's suffered losses, it's only come against the elite of the elite. He showed why vs. Costa, who rode a six-fight winning streak into the bout and won the 2025 MMA Junkie Breakthrough Fighter of the Year award.
It was a hard-fought battle from both men, but Allen really took advantage of Costa on the feet. He landed solid shots to Costa, who seemed a step behind and a step slower. He rocked Costa early in Round 1 and put together a significantly damaging Round 3, but somehow Costa remained in the fight for its entire scheduled duration.
With the win, Allen moves to 2-1 in his most recent three and bounces back from a loss to Jean Silva.
Costa has his momentum stopped, at least for now. His now-defunct six-fight winning streak most notably included knockouts of Dan Ige and Morgan Charriere.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 276 results include:
- Arnold Allen def. Melquizael Costa via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Dooho Choi def. Daniel Santos via TKO (body shot) – Round 2, 4:29
- Juan Diaz def. Malcolm Wellmaker via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:08
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Christian Edwards via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Timmy Cuamba via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:25
- Khaos Williams def. Nikolay Veretennikov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:31
- Ivan Erslan def. Tuco Tokkos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Thomas Gantt def. Artur Miniev via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:51
- Ketlen Vieira def. Jacqueline Cavalcanti via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cody Brundage def. Andre Petroski via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:44
- Alice Ardelean def. Polyana Viana via submission (capsule lock) – Round 2, 4:36
- Luis Gurule def. Daniel Barez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nicolle Caliari def. Shauna Bannon via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:08
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 117 results: Arnold Allen halts Melquizael Costa's momentum, reminds division
Continue reading...
