UFC Vancouver: Brendan Allen full media day interview
UFC Fight Night 262 headliner Brendan Allen spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his middleweight bout vs. Reinier de Ridder.
VANCOUVER – Brendan Allen admits he might not see it, but nothing about Reinier de Ridder’s game strikes him as special.
Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 262 at Rogers Arena, Allen (25-7 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will get to experience what de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) can do firsthand in an important bout for the middleweight title picture.
Undefeated under the UFC banner through four fights, de Ridder has racked up three finishes and a win over former champion Robert Whittaker. He’s also a former two-division titleholder 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 I’m hard to impress, but there’s not one fight or one moment where you’re like, ‘Oh man, this guy’s crazy,’ or he’s something special. He’s tough, he’s durable, his jiu-jitsu’s not 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 just like, ‘Oh man, he’s something special. He’s got that ‘it.’ Maybe he’s got something that needs to be a little more polished. It doesn’t stand out to me, but hey, he’s getting wins. Good for him.”
After winning a unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori at UFC 318 in July, Allen stepped in for an injured Anthony Hernandez to take this fight. The original matchup was viewed as a No. 1 contender fight. The timing and stakes of the fight worked out really well for Allen, as he was aiming to get a fight around this time of the year, but now he gets to check off testing his skills against an opponent he’s always wanted to share the cage with while potentially landing on the shortlist for a title shot.
“Not really, for me, it’s just like I’ve always wanted to fight the guy,” Allen said. “And why? I just think it’s a great matchup for me. It’s just that simple. I think it’s a great matchup for me stylistically, and what better way to hit the top 5 than to beat him and beat him on a main event. I’m back on the poster – it’s just kind of putting me back where I planned to be, to be honest with you. That was the opportunity, and bigger the risk, bigger the reward.”
