Headliners Cleared; Jocelyn Edwards Heavy

This featherweight affair is
OFFICIAL!@BlessedMMA
and @ArnoldBFA
both hit the scale at 146lbs for tomorrow’s
#UFCKansasCity main event 💪 pic.twitter.com/RYArTp22Nd

— UFC (@ufc)
April 14, 2023

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Kansas City,
Missouri, for
UFC on ESPN 44, which is headlined by an intriguing
featherweight battle.

The five-round main event will see former featherweight king
Max
Holloway return to the Octagon against rising contender
Arnold
Allen. While both main eventers had no issue making weight,
there was one notable miss on the lineup. Joselyne
Edwards (136.5) came in heavy for her second fight in a row,
checking in half a pound over the bantamweight limit for her fight
against Lucie
Pudilova (136). As a result, she has been fined 20% of her
purse and the match will otherwise continue.

“Blessed” is looking to bounce back after once again suffering a
defeat against Alexander
Volkanovski. The fan-favorite Hawaiian fighter had previously
put together impressive wins over Yair
Rodriguez and Calvin
Kattar, proving that he still has plenty left in the tank at
only 31 years old. Holloway (23-7) stepped on the scale at 146
pounds exactly.

Meanwhile, this is the biggest fight in the career of Allen (19-1).
“Almighty” is riding an impressive 12-fight win streak and has been
undefeated inside the Octagon. The English fighter most recently
won his first UFC main event against Calvin Kattar. Allen
officially weighed 146 pounds on the dot.

UFC on ESPN 44 will begin airing prelims on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
ET/2:30 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN+. The main card will then continue
airing on both at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.