"Arnold Allen got done dirty", "Robbed by Marc Goddard" - MMA world debates legality of knee strikes as referee intervenes with UFC 297 fight

The MMA world has reacted to the legality of knee strikes after the referee intervened in Arnold Allen's bout against Movsar Evloev at UFC 297.

Allen kicked off the UFC 297's main card with his highly anticipated bout against Evloev. Going into the fight, the latter was a considerable favorite on the betting lines but it was a very competitive fight.

While Evloev managed to walk away from the bout with a unanimous decision victory at the end of the third round, there was a moment of controversy that seemingly overshadowed the result.

In the third round, Allen stuffed a takedown attempt from Evloev and had his opponent in a front headlock. 'Almighty' then proceeded to land knees to the latter's head and the referee Marc Goddard decided to intervene.

However, a lot has been said on social media as the clip went viral and it can be clearly seen that Evloev's hands were off the mat when Allen landed the knee strikes. While it is completely legal to land knees in that case, it looks like Goddard was quick to jump in and halt the action.

Reacting to the same, fans were quick to express their disregard for Goddard halting the fight as many believed that Allen could've potentially stopped Evloev. Take a look at some of the reactions below:

"I'm so confused like, they were completely legal so why was the fight paused?"

"Robbed by Marc Goddard"

Fan reactions to Arnold Allen's fight being intervened by the referee

Furthermore, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani also took to X to express his thoughts on the same. While stating that the knee strikes "looked legal" to him, Helwani said:

"Tough break for Arnold Allen there. Those knees looked legal to me. Tough call, and I thought ultimately based on how things went Evloev won 29-28, but AA’s momentum was halted."