Ian Allston: The man who beat John Jones grinding 14-hour days in UFC pursuit
Former CFFC NextGen heavyweight champion Ian Allston is a realist.
Sure, he has dreams of fighting at the sport's highest level, and as a heavyweight, he knows that path can be shorter for him than athletes in other divisions. But for now, he understands there is much work left to be done.
"The undefeated part of being a professional as early as I am in my career, it's nice, of course, but then you have to remember that especially at heavyweight, a long win streak – because of the knockout power of some of these guys out here – it has a lot of weight," Allston said. "There's a lot of eyes on me right now in the division, so it definitely has me working harder, you know what I mean? I'm anxious to work hard and keep it going."
Fortunately for Allston, hard work isn't an issue. At Friday's CFFC 116, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, the 25-year-old prospect steps into the cage for the fourth time this year, and he's done it all while balancing three jobs.
”I usually average like a 14-hour day because I'm up at 6:30, and I'm out the door at 8:30," Allston explained. "A lot of the time that I'm not training, I work for the company Few Will Hunt. They make fightwear and apparel and stuff, and I work at their warehouse. Then I teach MMA at Semper Fi MMA Academy, and then I also do privates – and then that's on top of fighting."
It may seem like a heavy burden, but Allston is incredibly thankful for the opportunities.
"I have a good relationship with Few Will Hunt, and I love my students at Semper Fi," Allston said. "I have a lot of young kids who want to be fighters, and I try to set a good example for them, so I'll always be teaching, man. I think I'll just take my foot off the gas with that as far as when fights come up.
So far, the arrangement has worked out. Allston debuted as an amateur in 2018, picking up a quick submission win over John Jones – not, of course, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, but he still enjoys hearing the reference on CFFC broadcasts.
"When I got a first-round finish in my first fight over Mr. John Jones, I was like, 'All right, I think I can make this work,'" Allston joked. "I mean, how much higher can you really go?"
Allston (2-0) wrapped up his amateur career this past January, claiming the CFFC NextGen heavyweight title, and has since picked up a pair of stoppage victories in the professional ranks. He returns to action at Friday's event, where he takes on the debuting Billy Ray Valdez (0-0).
"I've seen a couple of his fights," Allston said. "In one fight, he gets flatlined in the first round, but it's heavyweight, you know what I mean? That just happens sometimes. It was just a wild exchange, and he got caught going backwards. His other fight was more recent and he seemed a little more reserved. Seemed like he was using angles a little more, so I don't expect him to come hard down the center or anything like that, but obviously I'm cautious – maybe more so because of how little I know about the guy."
Should he prove victorious, especially with another stoppage, Allston knows big opportunities could come his way. He did have an amateur loss to current CFFC heavyweight champ Greg Velasco, so a rematch could prove enticing, but Allston isn't forcing the issue. He's well aware of the types of calls that entertaining heavyweights can receive, so he's not limiting his options as he looks to see that all his hard work pays off.
"I think if I go out and show what I've been showing for the past two fights – which is that I am one of the toughest, if not the toughest matchup for these big boys in the region – and I run through Billy the way I've been running through the rest of these guys, I think I've shown enough," Allston said. "I don't plan on leaving anything up to speculation or doubt."
