UFC London video: Arnold Allen overwhelms Dan Hooker with blistering series of strikes in wild first round

Arnold Allen took his respect by force on Saturday at UFC London.

Despite his undefeated run and top 15 ranked status in the UFC, Allen is somehow often forgotten when the best featherweights in the world are mentioned but he definitely did his best to change that conversation in his fight against Dan Hooker. Allen came out guns blazing from the first second of the fight until the last when he finally put together a blistering combination of punches that simply overwhelmed Hooker with the referee rushing into stop the fight at just 2:33 into the first round.

“I know how hard I hit,” Allen said after moving to 9-0 in the UFC. “I know how good of a striker I am. I was just playing my footwork. He was quite slow but he’s so long. So I thought f*** it just throw.”

With plenty to prove in a showcase opportunity as the co-main event in his home country, Allen was firing punches in succession like he wanted to put Hooker away before the first minute of the fight expired. Allen cracked Hooker with some incredibly hard shots that had the “The Hangman” rattled and walking on wobbly legs.

Not to be outdone on the feet, Hooker just bit down on his mouthpiece and started launching shots of his own with a punch actually buckling Allen’s knees at one point.

Allen quickly jumped right back into the fray while just launching punches in bunches with several stiff shots slipping through Hooker’s defense. Finally with Hooker stumbling back towards the cage, Allen began unloading strikes in rapid-fire fashion until he was just teeing off on a defenseless opponent.

While Hooker refused to drop to the ground, the referee saw enough to jump in and save him before Allen could dish out any further punishment.

The high profile win will certainly catapult Allen up the featherweight ranks and now he’s looking for a chance to potentially put himself into title contention with another highly touted opponent on his radar.

“I’m top five now for sure,” Allen said. “What are we thinking Calvin Kattar? I think that would be a fight people want to see.”