Allen outlasts de Ridder at UFC Fight Night as Canadians score wins

VANCOUVER – Brendan Allen felt his record, his history and his skill had been overlooked, resulting in being cast as a speed bump in Reinier de Ridder’s meteoric rise up the UFC middleweight rankings.

But Allen proved more than that, neutralizing the Dutch fighter’s grappling and ground game across four rounds at Rogers Arena for UFC Fight Night.

De Ridder (21-3) had been looking to continue his streak of four wins in less than a year to set up a potential fight against middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.

Allen (26-7) was a late addition to the fight in Vancouver, replacing Anthony (Fluffy) Hernandez a month ago.

“I’m the youngest guy in the top five (rankings), I haven’t fought slouches, I’ve fought all top guys, I let my record and my action speak for themselves,” he said after the fight.

The fight was halted after the fourth round after de Ridder’s corner threw the towel in, following rounds of ground fighting leaving the Dutch fighter visibly exhausted after the bell and needing help getting to his corner.

“I wasn’t surprised, my team wasn’t surprised,” Allen said of the win over the favoured de Ridder.

“I knew if I go out there and perform, he can’t touch me.”

Allen said there had been a series of moments while in Vancouver that he took as signs he would win. 

Meanwhile, Canadians Mike Malott, Kyle Nelson, Charles Jourdain, Aiemann Zahabi and Melissa Croden all recorded wins in front of a patriotic crowd.

Malott (13-2-1) outlasted veteran Kevin Holland (28-15) to move back into the welterweight top 15 ranking.

Fighting and winning in front of a Canadian crowd is something he doesn’t take for granted, Malott said.

“Take my moments, appreciate it, walk into the cage holding my hands up and go ‘OK man, I’m fighting in front of 20,000 people and fans’,” he said about what was going through his mind while walking into the octagon. “It feels great getting out there in front of Canadian fans.”

Malott repeatedly backed Holland into the cage, dictating the tone in a stop-start fight that was twice halted for hits below the belt on Holland.

“Honestly, I was focused on the fight. Keep moving around a little bit, don’t get too cold, don’t get too hyped, don’t get too frustrated at things you can’t control,” he said about the interrupted nature of his fight.

At the lightweight level, Nelson (17-6-1) thought he had beaten American Matt Frevola (11-6-1) at the end of the first round only for the referee to inexplicably end the round early but continue the fight.

The referee appeared to stop the round with three seconds left on the clock, prompting confusion from Nelson’s corner before the second round started.

“I got up, I thought I won. I saw Matt trying to get up and kind of stumbling, so I went over to help him get back to his corner,” Nelson said.

“My coach comes in, we’re still thinking we won and halfway through the break they’re like ‘You’re going back in.’”

At the bantamweight level, Jourdain (17-8-1) drove a flying knee into Davey Grant’s (17-8) face, knocking the Englishman to the ground before winning by guillotine choke in the first round.

Zahabi (14-2), from Montreal, Que., won by split decision over Marlon Vera (23-11-1) stretching his winning streak to seven in a row.

Vera left the ring visibly angry, flashing Zahabi the middle finger as he went for his post-fight medical.

The UFC is next in Abu Dhabi for UFC 321 with Tom Aspinall facing off against Ciryl Gane on Oct. 25, 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2025.