Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze set for UFC 304 in Manchester
Arnold Allen will compete in front of a home crowd.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Allen will face Giga Chikadze at UFC 304, which takes place July 27 at the new Co-Op Live in Manchester, England. Super Lutas first reported the bout was in the works.
Allen hopes to avoid a three-fight losing streak after suffering the first two defeats of his pro MMA career. After a 10-0 start in the UFC, “Almighty” dropped back-to-back decisions to Max Holloway at UFC Kansas City in April 2023, and Movsar Evloev in his most recent outing at January’s UFC 297 event. Prior to that, Allen earned stoppage wins against Calvin Kattar and Dan Hooker, along with a unanimous decision win against Sodiq Yusuff.
Chikadze will look to find more consistency in 2024 as he’s only competed once since losing for the first time in the UFC to Kattar at UFC Vegas 46 in January 2022. In his lone 2023 appearance, “Ninja” earned a decision win against Alex Caceres at UFC Singapore this past August.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.