Who’s next Reinier de Ridder after Brendan Allen loss?
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Reinier de Ridder’s coach has no regrets about throwing in the towel to prevent more damage in the UFC Fight Night 262 main event against Brendan Allen.
Harun Ozkan claims he was the key decision-maker in not allowing de Ridder (20-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) to come out for Round 5 against Allen (26-7 MMA, 14-4 UFC) on Saturday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, leading to a TKO defeat and the end of a perfect start to the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder’s octagon tenure.
It’s extremely rare in MMA that the towel is throw in for a corner stoppage, but that was the case in the matchup of middleweight contenders. Ozkan said he did not like what he was seeing from his fighter as the rounds went on against Allen, and a choice was made to protect de Ridder’s long-term health and preserve him for the future.
Read Ozkan’s complete statement below (via Instagram):
I normally don’t share personal things on here, but I feel I owe a little explanation to everyone who’s been behind us. First of all, thank you for the amazing support we’ve been receiving. It’s been a crazy and busy year so far.
Last night didn’t go as we wanted. After a very strong start in the first round, things quickly started fading and we couldn’t really recover from the shots in and after the second round. I made the call to stop the fight after the fourth round. I take full responsibility for that decision and it was the right call to make for me in the moment. It’s not a decision I ever wanted to make, but I guess sometimes you have to.
My job is to coach, but also to look out for my fighter’s health. I’ve been with Reinier for basically his whole career and saw too many signs that made me step in. If I didn’t do anything, he would’ve continued the fight. Rather than risk unnecessary damage, I decided to call it a day and go home as healthy as possible. Live to fight another day.
I absolutely do not care about pleasing others if it comes at the cost of someone’s health. There’s a thin line between “being tough” and watching out for your health. This sport can be brutal. These guys sacrifice a lot of their life in and out of the cage – there’s no need for excess damage if it can be avoided. Most people forget they’re human too.
Zero excuses for this loss, we knew what we were going for. We are not happy with this performance, but for now recovery first, evaluate some stuff and we will be back next year. It has been an amazing year overall and thankful for all the highs and lows in life.
After starting his UFC run with victories over Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland, Bo Nickal and Robert Whittaker, de Ridder finds himself in the loser column for the first time since March 2024.
