This is the live blog for Reinier de Ridder vs. Brendan Allen, the middleweight main event for UFC Vancouver on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
A former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, de Ridder made his UFC debut in November, and hasn’t looked back since. Three stoppage wins in his first three fights set “RDR” up for a main event battle with former champion Robert Whittaker that de Ridder edged out, putting him in the thick of the title mix at 185 pounds.
De Ridder was supposed to face Anthony Hernandez in a potential title eliminator this Saturday, but after “Fluffy” withdrew, Allen stepped in on short notice to save the event. A former LFA champion, Allen made his UFC debut off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, and has been a going concern in the middleweight division since then. Now Allen hopes to re-insert himself into the title conversation with a big win over a surging contender.
Check out the live blog for de Ridder vs. Allen below.
And here we are. It’s been a weird one, folks. That co-main event was a travesty that I could write many thousands of words on, but it’s in the past. Now its RDR fight time. Let’s enjoy.
Allen walks out with the Canadian flag and the red fight kit. This man is from Louisiana, but repping Canada this weekend, because his grandparents are from Alberta. I suppose we can allow it.
Now it’s RDR’s turn. He’s out, draped in the Dutch flag, rocking his blue shorts and looking very confident. The Dutch Knight has arrived.
RDR is 6 years older, 2 inches taller, and has a 3-inch reach advantage. He’s a comfortable betting favorite at -190, with the comeback on Allen at +160.
Joe Martinez gets the festivities started and the crowd is lively. Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato, and Jerin Valel are the judges. Jason Herzog is the referee.
Allen has his eyes locked on RDR for his announcement. Then he sends a message to his kids and walks around a bit. The crowd is pretty tame. So much for repping Canada.
RDR gets some love. He stands there, being enormous, and looking around, before acknowledging the crowd.
They meet in the middle for final instructions and tough gloves. It’s go time.
RDR out and immediately with a teep to the body, then a shot. Allen stuffs it pretty well but they’re still tied up and clinch fighting. Allen gets underhooks and pushes RDR to the fence. Right into the muck of the fight here.
RDR hits a step across and throws Allen! He’s immediately into the mount! RDR high on the body, looking to set up and arm-triangle. Allen holding here, not moving, not trying to give anything up. The crowd is a little restless. Oh wow. Allen has an arm pinned as well. This is not ideal for him.
Allen feeds his arm through and tries to turn and RDR is immediately on the back. He looks gigantic on Allen’s back. And RDR gets the body lock in, though he’s a little off to the side. Using his foot to block Allen’s legs, and switches the body triangle. He’s fully on the back and bellies Allen down. Allen fights that off quickly. Allen holding hands, defending well.
Allen has the arm across but he gets it back and starts punching. Then he dives for the neck but Allen defends. RDR with elbows and punches to soften Allen up. He’s moving from the back to mount with ease. Allen defending well though, but he’s all defense. And RDR gets to a high mount and lands some good punches.
Allen begging for ref help and RDR goes for an armbar with short time but Allen escapes.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-8 de Ridder.
Allen putting pressure to start and RDR lands a nice body kick. Allen gets right in his face and they collide into a clinch. RDR has Allen against the fence this time and lands a knee in to the body. He’s looking for the trip but Allen defending well. Crowd restless again as RDR lowers to attack a double leg.
Allen defends well but he’s gotta find offense. And RDR moves up and then drags Allen with an outside trip. Allen has his back to the fence as RDR tries to drag him off, and then shifts to the back, putting a hook in. He’s making Allen carry his weight. RDR tries to pull him off but he’s too high and Allen ends up on top. Nice elbow from Allen.
RDR puts a body triangle from the bottom. Interesting. Allen tries to posturer but he’s having a hard time. RDR rolls and gets his legs involved but Allen fighting it off thus far. More shots from Allen and RDR rolls again but can’t go anywhere. RDR with bad tactics right now and he’s punted this round away.
RDR keeps trying to lock something with his legs but nothing remotely close and Allen finishes the round on top.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Allen, 19-18 de Ridder overall.
Not gonna lie, RDR looks a bit tired in there. Not ideal considering he dominated the first round. Allen a little tired, but seems fine.
Allen out right away with pressure and RDR definitely looks a bit labored in there. He goes for a single leg, moves right to the back as Allen runs away, and this time he gets it. RDR fully on the back, and gets the body triangle in. And he’s hunting the choke now.
Allen is so good with his defensive grappling. But RDR can live here for 4 minutes. OH! Allen turns in from the bottom. RDR tries for an arm-triangle but no joy and now Allen is just fully on top. Allen is about to dominate this fight. RDR seems spent. Allen should not have been able to turn there.
And now Allen passes to the side. RDR rolls to his belly. And he is EXHAUSTED. It doesn’t make sense because he didn’t do much. And he’s fought 5 rounds before, but he’s just spent in there. Maybe the weight cut sucked?
Allen coming on strong now though. RDR keeps trying to roll. He is going to lose this fight at this point. Allen not even working hard anymore. Just sitting on him, landing shots occasionally.
Oh, that’s kinda fun. RDR gets an inverted triangle! Short time though and he’s not close enough to finish.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Allen, 28-28 overall.
WOW. RDR can barely get to his feet after the round. And he was right next to Allen’s corner. They are going to put the hammer down now.
Allen right on him into a double leg, lift, and takedown. RDR has nothing left. This is a question of whether Allen will finish him or not.
Just holding right now. Allen positioning, RDR holding for survival. They are in Allen’s corner, who is telling him RDR is dead. He is. This is formulaic, and Allen isn’t even trying that hard. Light work, positional control, winning easily.
Allen with some work. Honestly, not much happening. Allen is playing defense and attacking periodically. RDR trying to submit off his back, which has no chance of success. RDR rolls and Allen moves to the back.
This is a good performance from Allen, but a real downer to end this weirdo card. The crowd is whistling because this isn’t all that fun to watch. Allen isn’t getting too aggressive, and RDR has nothing to actually offer from his back.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Allen, 38-37 Allen overall.
Jason Herzog has to tell RDR he will stop the fight if he can’t make it back to the corner. RDR was just laying there, not moving. He is SPENT. He has nothing left to offer. His corner talks it over and says that’s enough. They stop the fight. Great call from the corner.
Brendan Allen def. Reinier de Ridder via TKO (retirement) — 5:00, Round 4.
Allen starts off his post-fight asking for a moment of silence for Duke Roufus. Very classy from him.
Allen then says he represented Canada because his family is from Canada, but still reps Louisiana. He thanks his team, says very nice things about them.
Allen then calls for Khamzat Chimaev, but “if not, Dricus, where you at?”
He then talks through the fight before we step away.
