Arnold Allen vs. Jen Silva was headlined at UFC 324 in Las Vegas

A fan-friendly featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Jen Silva has been added to UFC 324, Dana White announced Thursday.

Allen is the No. 6-ranked contender in the 145-pound division, while Silva sits at No. 11.

The event is scheduled to take place on January 24 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a pair of title fights. Justin Gaethje will take on Paddy Pumblet for the interim lightweight belt – while Elia Toporia is on leave from the UFC – and Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes will return to the Octagon after a nearly three-year retirement to take on women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.

England’s Allen, 31, has not fought since his unanimous decision win over Giga Chikadze at UFC 304 in the summer of 2024. The victory snapped a two-fight skid that saw Allen lose a five-round decision to former champion Max Holloway in 2023 and a close three-round decision to incumbent Movindriev 1. 2024.

Prior to his losses to Holloway and Ayolov, Allen had started his UFC career 10-0. Allen has said in the past that he was considering moving up to the lightweight division, but is currently sticking around featherweight.

Brazil’s Silva had his impressive winning streak snapped by Diego Lopes in September and will be looking to get back into the win column and back into the top 10 in the division. The 28-year-old popular member of the Fighting Nerds team started his UFC career 5-0, with all of his wins coming by either KO/TKO or submission.