Outside Source
Brendan Allen was confident he could break Reinier de Ridder in a longer fight. | Getty/UFC
Brendan Allen expected Reinier de Ridder to fade because he had seen it before.
After stepping up to replace the injured Anthony Hernandez on short notice, Allen rolled to a fourth-round technical knockout victory over de Ridder in the UFC Vancouver headliner on Saturday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The bout was halted when de Ridder’s corner threw in the towel following the conclusion of the fourth stanza.
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“You can see it when he fought the Russian guy [Anatoly Malykhin] for the second time in ONE, he did the same thing,” Allen said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I think the third or fourth round, the same thing. I knew I could get it done. 25 minutes is a very, very long time to take punishment.
“I didn’t think he would be able to do it. He took a round longer than I thought but I also didn’t start off too hot in the first. Three rounds of dominance.”
A former ONE two-division title holder, de Ridder made waves by winning his first four Octagon appearances — including a split-decision victory against former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker in his most recent outing. While “The Dutch Knight” got off to a strong start against Allen, he couldn’t maintain that pace for the duration of the contest. Though de Ridder was able to ground Allen in Rounds 2 and 3, his opponent reversed position and responded with plenty of top control and effective ground-and-pound. As the bout progressed, de Ridder struggled to get up off the canvas and return to his corner between rounds, ultimately setting the stage for the anticlimactic conclusion.
“I knew I think it was the second [round] when I stayed on top and was just hitting him and hitting him,” Allen said. “…I didn’t want to tank myself by trying to get him out of there. If I would have had like six weeks [of camp], for sure, I would have gave him more. I just was trying to be smart. I knew if I get him down again, I know I’m going to get him off. I told other people, there’s no way he can keep that pressure, he was trying so hard, squeezing so hard in the first, there’s no way that he can keep that for more than two rounds let alone five.
“I just stayed smart, stayed composed. Like I said before, I speak grappling fluently. That’s fine, you can have that round — 25 minutes, no problem. I’ll move a little bit and try to see where he’s going and how the movements are and just keep calculating. Keep logging the data that’s occurring and that’s what I did. Got him off in the second and just started to punish him.”
Allen Argues He Beat Imavov, Hernandez
After suffering back-to-back losses against Nassourdine Imavov and Hernandez, “All In” has rebounded to best Marvin Vettori and de Ridder in his last two outings. Allen argues that those decision losses to Imavov and Hernandez — arguably the top two contenders at 185 pounds — easily could have gone the other way.
“If you look at the numbers and actually watch the fight in detail, know the Unified Rules, you can argue for both of those – that I won both of those fights,” Allen said. “But it is what it is. It’s a loss on my record. I learned from it. Even though I think it was very close, I arguably won them. Maybe I’m delusional. Who knows? I don’t really care. It’s in the past. We’re growing. We’re learning. As I keep saying, I’m still the youngest guy in the Top 15 and now the Top 5. I probably have some of the most fights out of all of them. This is my 18th fight in six years. I’d say I’m pretty active. I haven’t fought slouches. I’ve fought all top guys. If you look at everyone I’ve fought in the moment I’ve fought them, they were all top dogs.”
While Allen might not be next in line for a 185-pound title shot, he believes he’s getting closer — especially after beating an opponent who was on the verge of making a case for a crack at Khamzat Chimaev in the near future.
“I’m at the point in my life that I just come here, I get the job done, I give it my best and the best performance I can for the fans, for everyone here, for the promotion,” he said. “I step up and I’m trying to be the face. I’m trying to grow and be the best I can be. This division is stacked. It’s steady growing even more stacked. I’m still here at the top and I’m still trying to reach that belt.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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