Overview
- Brendan Allen defeated Reinier de Ridder when de Ridder’s corner stopped the bout between Rounds 4 and 5 after Allen took over following a strong first round from de Ridder.
- Head coach Harun Ozkan issued a statement taking full responsibility for ending the fight and called it the right decision to protect his fighter’s health.
- In a new interview, Allen told TMZ he reviewed the exchange and believes de Ridder verbally indicated he could not continue, challenging the corner-only rationale.
- De Ridder posted that he battled norovirus during fight week and broke his hand in Round 1, offering health issues as context for the outcome.
- Reaction reshaped the middleweight picture: Daniel Cormier labeled Allen’s performance dominant, champion Khamzat Chimaev mocked de Ridder online, media placed Allen closer to contention, and some outlets pointed to Nassourdine Imavov as a likely next title challenger with no defense date announced.