A British MMA fighter claims he was attacked while walking the streets of Montreal, Canada, because he didn’t speak French.
UFC featherweight Arnold Allen shared the surprising news Tuesday as he previewed the card for Saturday’s UFC 321. “I got beat up in the street because I wasn’t using French,” Allen said on his YouTube channel. “Got jumped cuz yeah I didn’t speak French.”
Addressing the several facial wounds he sported, including two thumb-sized welts—one underneath each eye—he added, “So that’s what the bruises are all about. Don’t worry about it.”
The 31-year-old dropped the topic quickly, without providing any further details about the alleged attack in the French-speaking city.
Allen trains out of Tristar Gym in Montreal under Firas Zahabi. He did not specify what exactly he was doing in Canada besides “training for stuff.”
The 20-3-0 fighter currently ranks in the top 10 of the featherweight division but has not been in the octagon since his victory over Giga Chikadze on July 7, 2024, in Manchester, England.
This year-and-a-half-long absence continues Allen’s streak of being one of the more reclusive active fighters in the UFC. He fought twice in 2022, a rare occurrence in his decade-long career of multiple fights in the same calendar year, winning both fights.
In March 2022, Allen knocked out Dan Hooker in the first round. Later that year, on October 29, he earned a TKO victory over then-fifth-ranked Calvin Kakkar during their main event bout in Las Vegas.
Allen has expressed that he took the second fight to prove his standing within the division. “It’s the opportunity I want against the guy I want to fight. He’s No. 5 in the [UFC rankings] for a reason, and I want to put myself in that elite caliber,” Allen told The Post before the fight.
“Once I got into rankings, I was around the same sort of spot. The only reason I asked for this fight was just ’cause he was above me. He was the one above me, and it was the one that made the most sense,” he added.
Outside the octagon, Allen was previously given a five-month suspended prison sentence for his involvement in a bar fight in his native Ipswich, England, according to the Daily Mail.
He pleaded guilty to public fighting after getting drunk and attacking a bar owner as he tried to “protect his girlfriend,” the outlet reported.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/23/sports/ufc-fighter-arnold-allen-claims-he-was-attacked-beaten-up-walking-streets-of-montreal-canada-not-speaking-french/