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Arnold Allen defends his top 10 featherweight ranking against Melquizael Costa at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Allen aims to rebound from a recent slump, having won only once in his last four fights.
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Another UFC veteran defends his spot in the pecking order this Saturday. Arnold Allen looks to protect his top 10 featherweight ranking against Melquizael Costa at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
UFC Fight Nights have largely served as proving grounds for rising contenders this year. The next generation has had mixed success. For every Lone'er Kavanagh and Kevin Vallejos that rose to the occasion, there's a Youssef Zalal or Chris Duncan who fell short. This week, Costa looks to break through against a divisional stalwart.
Allen (20-4) was predicted to be a major player in the featherweight division. He was undefeated in his first 10 UFC fights, beating names like Gilbert Melendez and Dan Hooker. Activity and injuries were his biggest obstacles. It seems those layoffs finally caught up to him. He enters Saturday's main event with one win in his last four appearances. His approach to fixing it isn't nuanced. He fights Costa with the stubbornness of someone repairing a TV by banging their fist against it.
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"I'm pissed off. I need to get things right," Allen told CBS Sports. "The decisions are out of my control. I feel like I'm better. I had some ring rust, a lay off and was coming off an injury.
"I don't really think about it because I beat Movsar. The Jean Silva fight, I feel like I won. I'm 1-3, but I feel like it's 3-1. The only one where I feel like I really lost was to Max Holloway."
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The fight card includes Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa as the main event, along with several other matchups featuring rising contenders.
The odds for the fight will vary, but they typically reflect Allen's experience and ranking against Costa's potential as a challenger.
This fight is crucial for Allen to maintain his top 10 ranking in the featherweight division and for Costa to establish himself as a serious contender.
Arnold Allen has struggled recently, winning only once in his last four fights after a strong start to his UFC career.

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Costa (26-7) turned heads, literally and figuratively, with a spinning back kick knockout in his last performance. He was favored to beat Dan Ige, but few could've predicted how assertive he'd be. Ige has traded leather with some of the division's top finishers -- Diego Lopes, Josh Emmett, "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung and Edson Barboza. None of them stopped Ige. It took 30 fights over 12 years before Costa put him away in the first round.
"I said all along that I'd knock Dan Ige out," Costa told CBS Sports through a Portuguese interpreter. "I didn't mean any disrespect. I knew that our styles matched. I'm saying the same thing about Arnold Allen. People think that I talk too much, but really, I'm only talking 30 percent. Imagine all the other work that we're doing with my team. I have a really strong team.'"
Let's take a look at the rest of the fight card with the latest odds from DraftKings before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event below.
| Favorite | Underdog | Weightclass |
|---|---|---|
| Arnold Allen -148 | Melquizael Costa +124 | Featherweight |
| Daniel Santos -162 | Doo Ho Choi +136 | Featherweight |
| Malcolm Wellmaker -340 | Juan Diaz +270 | Bantamweight |
| Modestas Bukauskas -340 | Christian Edwards +270 | Light heavyweight |
| Benardo Sopaj -155 | Timothy Cuamba +130 | Bantamweight |
| Khaos Williams -120 | Nikolay Veretennikov +100 | Welterweight |
Date: May 16 | Start time: 8 p.m. ET (Main card) | 5 p.m. ET (Preliminary card)
Location: Meta APEX -- Las Vegas
Stream: Paramount+ (subscribe now for as low as $8.99 per month)
Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa: Allen's loss to Silva went entirely as I predicted. Allen has never been knocked out or submitted, but his tendency for split decisions cost him against a powerful, volume-heavy fighter. I'm not convinced Costa can do what Silva couldn't. Costa is indeed the first person to stop Ige; however, Ige has far more mileage on him than Allen. The "Almighty" Allen has the five-round experience and defensive sensibilities to stretch this fight. Over time, he'll make better reads against a fighter with defensive exploits. Pick: Allen via unanimous decision