Kattar v Allen UFC Fight Night betting picks – October 29, 2022

Fight Night from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas returns this Saturday with a headliner featuring Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen, a pair of featherweights on a mission for gold.

Calvin Kattar (23-6-0) made his UFC debut back in 2017 is currently the fifth-ranked featherweight. He has endured a patchy two years, recording three wins and two losses. There was no shame in his losses to some of the division’s best fighters in Josh Emmit and Max Holloway, but Kattar needs to get on a winning run if he hopes to crack the upper echelon of this open division. He stands tall for the featherweight ranks at 5’11” and goes into this fight with a three-inch height and two-inch reach advantage, which may prove telling.

Kattar’s recent losses have all come via decision, so he needs to work on increasing his output and convincing the judges of his three-round dominance. Waiting for an opponent to lead the dance is a sure-fire way to end up on the wrong side of scorecard roulette. Kattar is 32 years old, so if he is going to make a run for the belt, it must happen now. With current champ Alexander Volkanovski off to chase lightweight glory, opportunities might arise for the right featherweight to step up and fill the void. This contest shapes up as a must-win for ‘The Boston Finisher’.

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Arnold Allen (18-1-0) is an exciting British prospect who is currently ranked sixth in the featherweight division. He will be hoping to leapfrog Kattar with a win here and push his name forward as the division’s heir apparent. Allen’s only MMA loss occurred back in 2014 and he has won 11 straight fights since, including victories over Dan Hooker, Sodiq Yusuff, and Nik Lentz. This impressive winning streak is among the longest of any active UFC fighter.

Allen is capable both on the feet and the mat, with knockout and submission victories throughout his record. He ran straight through Hooker at his most recent outing with a devastating first-round finish, and another impressive stoppage would surely catapult him onto a big pay-per-view card soon. Allen is a quietly spoken, hardworking fighter who looks equipped to handle the spotlight. At only 28 years of age, he is still improving and shapes as a name to watch.

This is an evenly matched fight on paper, as evidenced by the respective rankings, but we are tipping Allen because of his greater upside and recent run of success working through the grades.

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