Brendan Allen shook up the UFC middleweight division in a big way by handing Reinier de Ridder his first promotional loss by securing a TKO after de Ridder’s corner deemed him unable to continue ahead of Round 5. De Ridder was visibly exhausted in his neutral corner at UFC Fight Night in Vancouver Saturday night, leading to the sudden ending in the main event.
Allen (26-7 MMA) avoided de Ridder’s (21-3 MMA) devastating kickboxing ability by utilizing his wrestling and controlling de Ridder with strikes from the top position. De Ridder had few answers for Allen, as Allen stepped in on short notice after replacing fellow contender Anthony Hernandez (15-2, 1 NC MMA).
With the UFC’s middleweight logjam in full effect, Allen said post-fight he has done enough to earn a title shot opposite champion Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA).
“Come get it, baby,” Allen said.
De Ridder had not lost in 19 months.
Aiemann Zahabi and Mike Malott won their respective fights against Marlon Vera and Kevin Holland by split and unanimous decision, respectively. Zahabi (14-2 MMA) used his boxing in Round 3 to secure the win over the former bantamweight title challenger in Vera (23-11-1 MMA), while Malott (13-2-1 MMA) dodged a bullet by avoiding a no-contest against Holland (28-15 MMA) after Holland’s protective shorts cup was compromised from a Malott leg kick gone wrong early in the fight. A Mallott arm-triangle choke attempt in Round 3 wasn’t enough either. Zahabi won 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 while Malott prevailed 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
In women’s flyweight action, former title challenger Manon Fiorot (13-2 MMA) delivered a devastating TKO over Canada’s Jasmine Jasudavicius (14-4 MMA) set up by a flurry of punches to secure the stoppage win at 1:14 of the opening round.
Canadian bantamweight fan favorite Charles Jourdain had a picture-perfect flying knee turn into an eventual first-round guillotine submission over Davey Grant at 3:05. Jourdain (17-8-1 MMA) has won back-to-back fights in identical fashion. Meanwhile, Grant (17-8 MMA) is 4-2 in his last six fights, as he had a two-fight winning streak snapped.
The six-fight UFC Vancouver main card began with lightweight Kyle Nelson winning a unanimous decision over Matt Frevola, as the judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. The fight wasn’t without controversy, as referee Dan Miragliotta misread a stoppage that would have given Nelson (17-6-1 MMA) a first-round TKO. Frevola (11-6-1 MMA) has dropped three in a row.
-Field Level Media
