Suffolk MMA star Arnold Allen picked up the biggest win of his promising career last night.

Trimley St Martin’s Allen bested much-hyped Makwan Amirkhani over three thrilling rounds at the O2 Arena, his first appearance on the main card of a UFC event.

As expected, Amirkhani came out fast, looking for flashy strikes and threatening submissions, but Allen used his strong grappling and sharp striking to turn the fight in his favour.

He rocked the Finnish fighter with a big left hand in the final round and finished the fight threatening with a choke before claiming a split decision win.

He improves his record to 12-1 in MMA but 3-0 in the UFC, the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world.

The 23-year-old moves to the cusp of the top 15 rankings in the featherweight division, and enhances his reputation as one of the brightest young prospects on the planet.

After the fight, which was shown live on BT Sport, he promised his girlfriend ‘at least a week of loving’ having spent so much time at the world-famous Tristar Gym in Montreal training for the battle.

Likeable, modest and incredibly well-rounded, the Suffolk man can go far in the sport, and is perhaps the county’s best young sports star.

In terms of his next fight, a clash with 15th ranked Mirsad Bektic, who he was due to fight at UFC 204 in Manchester last October before injury struck, would be a fascinating prospect as he continues to climb the fistic ladder.

Did you watch the fight? Who should Allen fight next? Let us know!