Outside Source
Reinier de Ridder suffered his first UFC defeat on Saturday night. | Getty/UFC
Daniel Cormier believes Reinier de Ridder’s corner did the right thing by throwing in the towel at UFC Vancouver.
De Ridder was originally scheduled to face Anthony Hernandez in a potential middleweight title eliminator at UFC Vancouver on Saturday. However, Brendan Allen replaced Hernandez, who was forced out with an injury. “All In” was a sizeable underdog against de Ridder going into the main event. While De Ridder roped in the first round, Allen took over as the fight progressed.
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“The Dutch Knight” was visibly exhausted by the third round, leading the cageside doctor to take a look at him. De Ridder was barely able to return to his stool at the end of the fourth round when his corner threw in the towel. Cormier stands by the corner’s decision to throw in the towel. The former UFC double champ believes the corner made the right choice to protect their fighter.
Live to Fight Another Day
“He was barely able to get up after Rounds 2, 3, and 4. There was no way he was gonna get through another five minutes,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “His corner did him a favor, a solid, by saying, ‘Hey, we’ll give you the opportunity to live another day and fight another day.’ So I know we’re hard on coaches for not being willing to throw in the towel. Reinier de Ridder’s coaches threw in the towel tonight. They gave the guy a chance to fight another day.”
De Ridder’s longtime coach and close friend, Harun Ozkan, took complete responsibility for throwing in the towel. Ozkan said he doesn’t want to make any excuses for the loss and doesn’t care about critics when it comes to the safety of his friend. Re Ridder trains at the Combat Brothers gym in Breda, Netherlands, which he co-founded with Ozkan. De Ridder was undefeated in four UFC outings, with three finishes, before his loss against Allen.
Daniel Cormier praises Reinier de Ridder’s corner for protecting their fighter and throwing in the towel 🥊👏
“He was barely able to get up after rounds 2, 3, and 4. There was no way he was gonna get through another five minutes. His corner did him a favor by saying, ‘Hey, we’ll… pic.twitter.com/Xp6I7LJEaN
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) October 19, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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