One of the best UFC fights of the year has been cancelled.
Many were excited to see the potential title eliminator between Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez and Reinier de Ridder in the five-round main event of UFC Vancouver on Oct. 18.
However, not everything goes according to plan, and Hernandez was forced to withdraw from the biggest fight of his career.
The Canadians now have a new middleweight headliner, one that hasn’t received much praise.
Brendan Allen takes on Reinier de Ridder at UFC Vancouver
On less than five weeks’ notice, #11-ranked UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen steps in to fight de Ridder at UFC Vancouver.
The UFC announced the new main event on Monday.
Allen recently returned to the win column at UFC 319, defeating former title challenger Marvin Vettori by decision. The victory snapped a two-fight losing skid to top contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Hernandez, the man he is replacing.
Prior to back-to-back losses, Allen was on the second-longest win streak in the division at 6.
His opponent, de Ridder, is a perfect 4-0 in the Octagon and is a former two-division champion in One Championship.
Going from Hernandez to Allen, the fans weren’t too happy with the replacement fight.
“What a downgrade,” one fan wrote on X.
“Still time for change, no one wants to see Brendan Allen in this fight,” another fan reacted to the news.
“Allen?” another fan questioned.
“Awful main event now,” a fan wrote.
Paulo Costa offered to fight Reinier de Ridder
Brendan Allen apparently wasn’t the only option to fight RDR on short notice.
On Monday, former UFC title challenger and #13-ranked contender Paulo Costa confirmed he got the call about replacing Hernandez in the UFC Vancouver main event.
Weeks out from the fight, Costa revealed he asked the UFC for three rounds instead of five.
“After Shara [Magomedov] pulled out I got some news… Somebody hurts in the main event so UFC called me to fighting an top5 in few weeks for 5 rounds,” Costa wrote on Instagram.
“To be fair, I propose 3 rounds due short time and guess what, he said no for 3 rounds,” Costa said of de Ridder.
“What [the] heck! Cowards … gonna [expose] them.
“My Vintage version is back and people are scared,” the 34-year-old said.