UFC Fight Night 262: Brendan Allen stools Reinier de Ridder, calls out Khamzat Chimaev

Brendan Allen achieved his goal of breaking Reinier de Ridder.

In a short-notice main event opportunity, Allen (26-7 MMA, 14-4 UFC) stepped up to replace an injured Anthony Hernandez to face de Ridder (21-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC). The fight headlined UFC Fight Night 262 at Rogers Arena in Vanouver, British Columbia, and produced a rare MMA stoppage. After four rounds of action, de Ridder could not continue, awarding Allen a TKO victory by retirement.

De Ridder wasted little time testing Allen’s grappling game, which would eventually come back to haunt him.

After wrestling along the fence in the opening minute, de Ridder tossed Allen to the mat and began patiently working through submission options. An arm triangle wasn’t there, but in defending, Allen gave up his back. De Ridder slapped on a body triangle and began threatening with punches and choke attempts. Full mount was achieved, where de Ridder postured up for a few punches in the closing moments of the round.

Allen came out aggressively with strikes to start Round 2, but soon was clinched up with de Ridder. A few moments later, de Ridder swept out the leg beautifully. However, Allen was able to reverse position to land a few big punches and elbows while de Ridder threatened armbars from the bottom. That reversal put momentum in Allen’s corner for the remainder of the fight.

In Round 3, de Ridder got the fight to the ground within the opening 30 seconds. The body triangle was slapped on again from the back, and the choke threats soon followed. Once again, Allen exploded to reverse, ending up in full guard. Allen patiently continued to damage de Ridder with strikes, banking another round on the cards.

An exhausted de Ridder slowly made his way back to the corner after the horn, and the ringside doctor even came in to check on him before the start of the fourth round.

Allen immediately shot in, lifted de Ridder, and carried him near his corner for a slam. De Ridder attempted to throw up submissions from his back, but Allen was too aware of what was coming, and maintained top control until the horn.

Once again, de Ridder very slowly rose to his feet to reach the stool. Once he made it there, it was apparent he had nothing left to give, and the fight was called off.

Allen made the most of his post-fight interview, calling for a shot at middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev and former champion Dricus du Plessis.

“This was three and a half weeks of training,” Allen said. “I did this off the couch. Three and a half weeks. … I told you I’m a different monster. When my head’s clear, and we’re on, I’m the best in the world. Chimaev, you want a good grappler? You want someone that’s young and hungry? Come get it, baby.

“If not, Dricus, where you at? I’ve been trying to get you for a minute.”

With the win, Allen makes it back-to-back wins, following a Fight of the Night unanimous decision nod over Marvin Vettori in July. De Ridder walks away with his first loss in the UFC, after winning his first four bouts.