Brendan Allen Achieves the Most Important Victory of His Career at UFC Fight Night
UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen secured the most significant victory of his career on Saturday by stopping Reinier de Ridder in the fourth round at UFC Fight Night held in Vancouver. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Allen (26-7) promised to break de Ridder (21-3), and he did just that. He exhausted de Ridder on the ground and forced de Ridder’s corner to throw in the towel between the fourth and fifth rounds.This result broke de Ridder’s four-fight winning streak in the UFC, which began last November. Originally, he was scheduled to face Anthony Hernandez, but Allen stepped in after Hernandez withdrew due to an injury.
Allen, from Louisiana, had a difficult start in the first round, but quickly turned the tables. He conceded a takedown in the first and spent a large part of the round defending submissions, but dominated the grappling exchanges in the second, third, and fourth. Allen accumulated more than 11 minutes of control time and connected 128 total strikes against de Ridder’s 51, according to UFC statistics. De Ridder could barely stand at the end of the fourth round and struggled to return to his corner. Referee Jason Herzog closely examined de Ridder between rounds before his team finally made the decision to throw in the towel. Immediately after the fight, Allen challenged UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev, as well as former champions Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland, against whom he lost in 2020.It feels good to do exactly what I said I would do. This was for me at 3.5 weeks off the couch. I told you I’m a different monster, when I have a clear head and we’re on it, I’m the best in the world.
Brendan Allen
Allen arrived at Saturday’s main event as the UFC’s number 9 middleweight. De Ridder was number 4. In the co-main event, Canadian welterweight Mike Malott (13-2-1) secured a notable victory over Kevin Holland (28-15) by decision. Aiemann Zahabi (14-2) continued to climb the bantamweight rankings with a decision victory over former champion Marlon Vera (23-11-1) by split decision.Chimaev, if you want a good grappling fighter, someone young and hungry, you’ve got him, baby. Dricus, where are you? I’ve been trying to get you for a minute. If not, Sean, it’s time to run it back.
Brendan Allen
