The UFC returns to Canada on October 19, heading to Vancouver for the first time in two years.
While there aren’t any official matchups, plenty of exciting fights await, including Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi and Kevin Holland vs. Mike Malott.
Initially, the headliner showed Reinier de Ridder taking on Anthony Hernandez in what would be a Middleweight title eliminator.
However, Hernandez had to withdraw due to injury, and so a new 185-pound contender steps in.
Allen steps up to the Dutchman
The new main event features the #11 contender, Brendan Allen, taking centre stage at Rogers Arena.
‘All In’ has been involved in three headlined fight nights, all of which he has won at the UFC APEX.
South Carolina is a dangerous submission artist, having choked or tapped out 14 of his 25 conquered opponents.
Allen was once comfortably sitting in the top 10 of the division’s rankings and now gets the opportunity to return in that section.
It was looking slightly doubtful for the Beaufort-born mixed martial artist who suffered back-to-back losses.
Those defeats came against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris and Hernandez at UFC Seattle.
However, Allen improved his striking game in his last battle, earning a comfortable unanimous decision win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 318.
A victory for the short-noticed opponent could boost the American in title contention and earn the biggest triumph of his career.
A tough contest for RDR?
While the majority of the Dutchman’s wins have ended by submission, de Ridder is seen as a threat on the feet.
The #4 contender cruised his way to a second-round TKO win against Bo Nickal at UFC Des Moines, dominating the prospect with his striking.
A submission game plan for de Ridder will be unlikely since Allen has only tapped out once in his 32-fight career.
That surprisingly came in just All In’s third MMA fight, where Trevin Giles submitted him at LFC 52.
In his last bout, the Breda-born fighter just edged a victory against former UFC Middleweight Champion, Robert Whittaker.
The 35-year-old caused some problems on the feet and ground, yet was on the receiving end when he was in trouble.
Now that Allen has become more of a balanced fighter, it will be a much more challenging task for de Ridder to claim the victory.
But it all depends on whether five weeks is enough preparation for the South Carolinian to combat the future title challenger.