This is the live blog for Reinier de Ridder vs. Brendan Allen, the middleweight main event for UFC Vancouver on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.

A former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, de Ridder made his UFC debut in November, and hasn’t looked back since. Three stoppage wins in his first three fights set “RDR” up for a main event battle with former champion Robert Whittaker that de Ridder edged out, putting him in the thick of the title mix at 185 pounds.

De Ridder was supposed to face Anthony Hernandez in a potential title eliminator this Saturday, but after “Fluffy” withdrew, Allen stepped in on short notice to save the event. A former LFA champion, Allen made his UFC debut off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, and has been a going concern in the middleweight division since then. Now Allen hopes to re-insert himself into the title conversation with a big win over a surging contender.

Check out the live blog for de Ridder vs. Allen below.

And here we are. It’s been a weird one, folks. That co-main event was a travesty that I could write many thousands of words on, but it’s in the past. Now its RDR fight time. Let’s enjoy.

Allen walks out with the Canadian flag and the red fight kit. This man is from Louisiana, but repping Canada this weekend, because his grandparents are from Alberta. I suppose we can allow it.

Now it’s RDR’s turn. He’s out, draped in the Dutch flag, rocking his blue shorts and looking very confident. The Dutch Knight has arrived.

RDR is 6 years older, 2 inches taller, and has a 3-inch reach advantage. He’s a comfortable betting favorite at -190, with the comeback on Allen at +160.

Joe Martinez gets the festivities started and the crowd is lively. Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato, and Jerin Valel are the judges. Jason Herzog is the referee.

Allen has his eyes locked on RDR for his announcement. Then he sends a message to his kids and walks around a bit. The crowd is pretty tame. So much for repping Canada.

RDR gets some love. He stands there, being enormous, and looking around, before acknowledging the crowd.

They meet in the middle for final instructions and tough gloves. It’s go time.