Reinier de Ridder has admitted he “f***ed up” in his recent defeat by Brendan Allen, in which the Dutchman quit on his stool after four rounds.
De Ridder was eyeing a fourth straight win in 2025 and fifth in 11 months, following an electric start to his UFC tenure, but it was not to be in Vancouver.
“RDR”, who previously held gold at two weights in One Championship, had beaten Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland, Bo Nickal and ex-champion Robert Whittaker before encountering Allen in October – winning three of those four bouts via stoppage.
But De Ridder’s pursuit of a middleweight title shot was abruptly halted in his main event with Allen, where – after a promising start – RDR slowed down significantly and eventually retired on his stool.
That led to numerous accusations that De Ridder was a “quitter”, and now he has told Submission Radio: “Most importantly, I f***ed that up. I f***ed it up big time.
“In training camp, looking back, I was just pushing myself way too far and the last, especially... Well, basically the entire camp, I was feeling slow, very run down, very tired after every session and during every session.
“To be honest, even in the Robert [Whittaker] camp, I wasn’t even feeling like myself at the last couple of weeks, but I was very stubborn as a Dutchman is supposed to be, and I pushed myself. Kept pushing myself, kept going harder and harder and harder, and that’s what showed in the fight.”
De Ridder was a champion at middleweight and light-heavyweight in One, and same fans questioned whether the 35-year-old might have suffered this year from so many cuts to 185lb.
“I’m not even sure if it’s the weight-cut,” said De Ridder. “It must play a part as well, because it was very hard to get down this time, but most importantly I just beat my body up this year like crazy. And I just went too far.
“Everybody said: ‘Why are you fighting? Take some time off, rest.’ And I was the only stupid guy who said: ‘No, I’m going to fight.’
“One of the things I’ve done is a DEXA [bone-density] scan to figure out what my lean mass is and everything, and I am a little heavy for an average middleweight. So, it is a consideration to go to light-heavyweight.
“I think I will in the future, but then again, I have been able to make [middleweight] five times this year in 11 months. Four times I did extremely well after the weight-cut; I was close to being 100 per cent fighting. So, I do think there’s still a future for me at middleweight, although it might not be where I finish my career.”
De Ridder ruled out the pursuit of frequent paydays as his reason for taking so many fights in quick succession, adding: “[It’s] not even the money. I’m good, I’m alright, I don’t even need more money. Don’t tell Dana [White, UFC president]!
“It’s just I was so focused on the title. I was so focused to finally get my title shot, and I thought I was going to secure it in Vancouver. So, I just kept pushing, and I wanted to be ready.
“I wanted to be better than ever, and it was never an option for me to say, ‘I’ll pass and take some time off,’ because in my mind, I was not going to get the title shot – and I’d be left wondering when I’d get the chance. So yeah, I did something I shouldn’t have done, and hopefully I’ll learn a little bit.”
De Ridder also thanked his coach Harun Ozkan for agreeing to pull the fighter from the bout before the fifth round, saying: “Looking back, I think that was the right call. Harun is my guy. We’ve been friends and training together for over 10 years. He knows me better than I know myself.
“He saw exactly that I was not there, and I think he made the right decision. I’m very thankful for what he did there. That fifth round would only mean more damage, so I’m grateful for what he did, and I live to fight another day.”
Against RDR, Allen was replacing Anthony Hernandez on short notice. And it proved a successful move by the American, who extended his win streak to two after back-to-back losses.
Allen, 29, was outpointed by Hernandez in February after suffering a decision loss to Nassourdine Imavov last September. It is expected that Imavov will be Khamzat Chimaev’s first challenger as UFC middleweight champion.
Chimaev dethroned Dricus Du Plessis with a dominant decision win in August, and it was thought that De Ridder might challenge the Russian in 2026 if he could beat Allen in October. However, with De Ridder’s winning run coming to an end, and with Allen’s form slightly patchy, Imavov stands out as a credible challenger to the unbeaten Chimaev, 31.
The Frenchman, 29, is on a five-fight win streak and most recently outpointed Caio Borralho after stopping ex-champion Israel Adesanya.
