Jungle Gym MMA Well-Represented at Upcoming Event

Friday night's event will be streamed online on UFC Fight Pass.

DULUTH, Minn. – West Fargo, North Dakota is hosting a stacked card of mixed martial arts fights Friday night, which features a trio of fighters from Duluth’s own Jungle Gym MMA.

Duluth native Taylor Allen will be making his MMA debut at the event. Allen says he has competed at a few grappling tournaments and even has a boxing match under his belt, which will come in handy against his more experienced opponent.

“We know that he’s going to come out pretty strong, but those are the fights I want to take. I don’t really want to take easy fights. I view it as a five-year plan. I could be sitting on a bar stool, talking about the days when I beat up people nobody knew, or I can take these hard flights and become a force in my division. So that’s my plan,” Allen said.

Also on the card is 21-year MMA veteran Tat Romero, who is originally from North Dakota. And his fight will be the final one in his career.

“It’s pretty emotional. I’m sure it’ll hit me when it’s done and a couple weeks later, I’ll probably want to fight again. But I promised my wife I wouldn’t. I got a lot of teammates from Jungle Gym fighting and a lot of them have a lot of promise to get to that next stage. And if I can be on the same card with them guys, that’d be awesome,” Romero said.

Duluth native Alvin “Goozie” Hines will also compete at the event, which will take place at the Veterans Memorial Arena in West Fargo. It will also be streamed online on UFC Fight Pass.