UFC Fight Night 262 headliner Brendan Allen spoke with MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his middleweight fight against Reinier de Ridder.
VANCOUVER – Brendan Allen admits he may not see it, but nothing about Reinier de Ridder’s game seems special to him.
On Saturday, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 262 at Rogers Arena, Allen (25-7 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will get to experience firsthand what De Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) can do in a major middleweight title fight.
Undefeated under the UFC banner in four fights, de Ridder has racked up three finishes and a victory over former champion Robert Whittaker. He is also a former two-division champion in ONE Championship. De Ridder has done a lot in his career, but in Allen’s eyes, what he sees in the cage just isn’t special.
“I mean, (his resume) doesn’t impress me,” Allen told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “Maybe it’s hard to impress me, but there’s not a fight or a moment where you say, ‘Oh, man, this guy is crazy,’ or he’s anything special. He’s tough, he’s durable, his jiu-jitsu isn’t bad, but really, what else is there?
“I don’t know, maybe you see something different than me, but I haven’t seen anything where I’m like, ‘Oh man, he’s something special. He’s got that.’ Maybe he’s got something that needs to be a little more polished. It doesn’t catch my attention, but hey, he’s getting wins. Good for him.”
After winning a unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori at UFC 318 in July, Allen replaced the injured Anthony Hernandez to take this fight. The original matchup was seen as a number one contender fight. The timing and stakes of the fight worked out very well for Allen as his goal was to get a fight this time of year, but now he can test his skills against an opponent he always wanted to share the cage with while also landing on the short list for a title shot.
“Not really, for me, it’s like I’ve always wanted to fight that guy,” Allen said. “And why? I think it’s a great matchup for me. It’s that simple. I think it’s a great matchup for me stylistically, and what better way to get to the top 5 than to beat him and beat him in a main event. I’m back on the card; to be honest, it’s like putting me back to where I planned to be, to be honest with you. That was the opportunity, and the bigger the risk, the bigger the chance. reward”.