Anthony Hernandez has withdrawn from the UFC Fight Night 262 main event, and Reinier de Ridder has a new opponent.
With Hernandez out of the Oct. 18 headliner at Rogers Arena in Vancouver (ESPN+) for undisclosed reasons, Brendan Allen will step in and take on de Ridder in a five-round middleweight bout.
UFC officials announced the change Monday.
De Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has quickly climbed the ladder in the middleweight division, winning his first three fights by stoppage and picking up a split decision nod over former champ Robert Whittaker in his last outing. The main event result against Whittaker extended his winning streak to five.
Allen (25-7 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will look to take advantage of the short-notice opportunity and get himself back to the upper tier of the 185-pound division. He defeated Marvin Vettori at UFC 318 to snap a two-fight losing skid against Hernandez and Nassourdine Imavov.
The latest UFC Fight Night 262 lineup now includes:
- Reinier de Ridder vs. Brendan Allen
- Cody Gibson vs. Aori Qileng
- Kevin Holland vs. Mike Malott
- Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Manon Fiorot vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Davey Grant vs. Charles Jourdain
- Drew Dober vs. Kyle Prepolec
- HyunSung Park vs. Bruno Silva
- Danny Barlow vs. Djorden Santos
- Stephanie Luciano vs. Ravena Oliveira
- Azamat Bekoev vs. Yousri Belgaroui
- Matt Frevola vs. Kyle Nelson
