RDR on losing ‘Fluffy’ fight, training tension with Brendan Allen
Reinier de Ridder on losing ‘Fluffy’ fight, training tension with Brendan Allen
Reinier de Ridder was sad to see “Fluffy” go.
For a few days, De Ridder had one of the more fan-friendly bouts on the UFC calendar. However, injury struck, and Anthony Hernandez had to withdraw from their Oct. 18 main event at UFC Fight Night 262 in Vancouver. In response, the UFC called up top middleweight contender Brendan Allen to fill in for Hernandez. De Ridder is happy he’s still fighting next month but admits he’d much rather be up against Hernandez.
“It was a big letdown. It was a shame,” De Ridder told MMA Junkie Radio. “He really has a cool skill set, ‘Fluffy’ has, and he came in with a lot of hype, so I was very sad he pulled out. And there were a couple of days I didn’t expect anyone to step up at all to be honest. Nobody wanted to fight. We tried Costa, but Costa wanted on his own terms, so that didn’t happen. I’m very, very grateful that Brendan took the call.”
The fight against Allen is a weird one for de Ridder. There’s no ill will toward him, but the two have had tension in the past, given they train under the same roof. Both guys are part of Kill Cliff in South Florida, but despite representing the same gym, the two actually never really trained together.
“We never really trained much,” de Ridder said. “He was never that welcoming to me, so I never really wanted to work with him.”
De Ridder has been training at Kill Cliff ahead of this bout and has yet to see Allen in the gym. He’s unsure if he’s still with the team, but he did see him recently when he was preparing for his bout against Robert Whittaker in July. The Dutch fighter never really understood why Allen avoided training with him.
“I like everybody,” de Ridder said. “I’m not somebody to hold a grudge at all. I train with all the middleweights, but he never wanted to train with me. I don’t know why.”
