BRITISH star Arnold Allen was spotted smiling between rounds – despite losing his UFC winning streak.
Allen, 29, went down in a thrilling five-round epic with Max Holloway in Kansas City.
But the Suffolk fighter showed his class throughout – and was clearly enjoying the battle against a UFC legend.
So much so that he was beaming during the stoppages.
Holloway was full of admiration for Allen and paid tribute to his beaten opponent.
The Hawaiian ace, 31, said: “Allen is the nicest dude ever.
“In between rounds he was smiling and I was like I can’t talk s*** to this guy.
“I told him you’re a legend and we’ll probably see each other a number of times.
“He’s up there, his IQ is super good, he brought it for five rounds, he was very smart.
“He is an awesome guy, a thick boy, like a bodybuilder and upper body like a tank. It was kind of confusing.”
Kate Bush-loving Allen came into the fight on the back of 12 straight pro MMA wins, including in all ten of his UFC appearances.
He put in a brave performance in the Kansas showdown, knowing victory would likely have given him a shot at the UFC featherweight world championship.
Despite some heavy hits, he could not match the level and creativity of former world champ Holloway, who used his body kicks to great effect.
Allen went all out in the final round to try and find a knockout – but ended up on the canvas himself when he was caught off guard.
After falling painfully short and going down on a unanimous points decision, the Almighty said: “Max has been around a long time, he’s an inspiration to me, thanks to all the fans for coming out.”
