Reiner de Ridder is not preventing Anthony Hernandez.
De Ridder and Hernandez have been set to face off in the primary occasion of UFC Vancouver subsequent month; nonetheless, on Monday, the UFC revealed that “Fluffy” is out of the bout, and as a substitute, “RDR” will now tackle Brendan Allen in the primary occasion.
It’s unclear what compelled Hernandez out of the bout presently, although rumors started to flow into earlier than the UFC’s announcement, with fighters like Paulo Costa and Caio Borralho providing to step in to switch Hernandez.
It’s an unlucky flip of occasions for each Hernandez and de Ridder. UFC CEO Dana White introduced the matchup as a part of a two-pack middleweight title eliminator of kinds earlier than UFC Paris, which befell earlier this month. De Ridder vs. Hernandez would’ve served because the second piece of the puzzle, whereas Nassourdine Imavov at the moment sits within the driver’s seat following his unanimous choice win over Caio Borralho at Accor Enviornment. Now it’s unclear if that may have an effect on the UFC’s choice as to who will problem Khamzat Chimaev for the title subsequent.
A former two-division champion in ONE, de Ridder (21-2) is 4-0 within the UFC since becoming a member of the promotion final yr, and most just lately gained a cut up choice over Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi in July.
Allen (25-7) is at the moment ranked No. 11 within the UFC’s middleweight rankings and is coming in off a unanimous choice win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 318.
UFC Vancouver takes place on Oct. 18 at Rogers Enviornment.
Damon Martin and Jed Meshew contributed to this report.
