UFC Vancouver goes down tomorrow night and we will see a big time middleweight matchup in the main event. Top contender Reinier De Ridder (21-2) will try to keep his perfect record inside the octagon as he takes on ninth ranked contender Brendan Allen (25-7).
This was not the fight that was originally supposed to headline this event. Originally, RDR was supposed to face Anthony Hernandez in a potential title eliminator. However, Hernandez suffered an injury and Allen stepped into this golden opportunity.
After earning a UFC contract back in 2019, Brendan Allen started out 5-2 inside the octagon. Then, he went on a seven-fight win streak which included five finishes. Right as he was getting into title contention, he lost back-to-back fights to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez. He bounced back in July with a win over Marvin Vettori.
Reinier De Ridder made his octagon debut just under a year ago. The former two-division ONE FC champion defeated Gerald Meerschaert in his debut. Not a bad win, but he didn’t look incredible. That said, his 2025 has been nothing short of incredible.
He started the year by submitting Kevin Holland in dominant fashion. Then, he took away all the hype of Bo Nickal by stopping him at UFC Des Moines in May. After that, he defeated former champion Robert Whittaker to get him right into the title picture at 185 pounds.
UFC Vancouver Prediction
If RDR gets the win tomorrow night, he will cap off an 11 month stretch where he would go 5-0 inside the octagon with wins over Allen, Whittaker, Nickal, Holland, and Meerschaert. He’s the betting favorite heading into UFC Vancouver and I really think he should be.
De Ridder is very big for the division and he’s strong. He’s got unorthodox striking and his most dangerous weapon is this incredible lead knee to the body. On the ground, RDR is at his best and his incredible size and strength make him a problem for most of the middleweight division.
I’m struggling to see the path to victory for Brendan Allen in this fight. I don’t really see a big advantage if any on the feet for Allen and I don’t think his grappling is on the same level as RDR. Pure offensive wrestling, he likely has the advantage, but I don’t see him landing a ton of takedowns at UFC Vancouver.
Championship experience and cardio definitely favors RDR as well. Ultimately, I think Allen is going to get worn down as the fight goes on, especially with the body work from De Ridder. By the fourth round, I think RDR will get a dominant position on the ground and I think he’ll find a choke to move to 5-0 in the UFC over the last 11 months.
Prediction: Reinier De Ridder by Submission
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