Injured professional fighter taking on triathlon

Arnold Allen is taking on an Olympic-style triathlon while he is out of professional MMA fighting due to injury

A professional fighter who was injured in his last bout is set to take on an Olympic-style triathlon.

Arnold Allen, 30, from Ipswich, has been involved in mixed martial arts (MMA) since he was 14 and competes professionally in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

During his last fight earlier this year, Allen injured his left hand and has been unable to compete since.

However he is taking on a triathlon - involving an Olympic-distance swim, run and cycle - on Sunday in Kent.

"In the first round of my last fight I threw a left hand and I hit the top of the guy's head," Allen explained of how he came to injure his hand.

"It's quite hard up there on the forehand and I felt something familiar from when I broke my hand in the past.

"I figured I'd keep throwing it and managed to get a decision win.

"Now I'm paying the price and it hurts but I got the win so I'm happy with that."

Allen said he would be disappointed if he did not one day become UFC World Champion

Allen said he had already been running and swimming so decided to take on the triathlon to help raise money for charity.

"The training is fun. I really enjoy pushing myself and getting better, seeing the improvements," he continued.

"The hardest thing is I'm still doing all of the other training for my martial arts except sparring.

"I just can't hit anything with my left hand so I'm still doing Muay Thai punching and kicking with one hand, boxing training with one hand and still lifting the weights.

"That's the hard part, to find balance to do the triathlon whilst still doing everything else. "I'm sorer than usual."

World champion

Allen will take on a 1.5km (0.93 mile) swim, a 24-mile (38.6km) bike ride and a 6.2 mile (10km) run which he hoped to do complete within three hours.

He believed the swim would be the hardest element for him.

"When you jump in the water, there's a hundred people grouped up," he said.

"You get kicked in the head and people are bundling over each other and I have a phobia of deep water - so I try not to think about it when I'm in the river swimming.

"I'm not looking forward to that."

Allen is hoping to get back to competitive fighting before the end of the year and wants to eventually become a UFC world champion.

"If I'm fit at the end of this triathlon, hopefully I can start doing my hand rehab and get back into camp to try and get something before the year is out," he said.

"If not, it'll be another camp where I am dieting over Christmas and fighting in January."