Things are about to get very, very interesting in the UFC’s middleweight division.
On Tuesday, promotion officials announced the main event of October’s UFC Vancouver, which will see former ONE Championship double-champ Reinier de Ridder (21-2) face off against Anthony Hernandez (15-2, 1NC).
A second Canadian date in 2025 for the UFC, the Fight Night event takes place on October 18, 2025 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. UFC 315 took place this past April in Montreal.
The announcement comes in the wake of Khamzat Chimaev dethroning Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 this past weekend, and just two weeks on from Hernandez putting on a dominant performance against Roland Dolidze at the UFC Apex.
De Ridder, meanwhile, enters the fight off a split decision win over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. “The Dutch Knight” has done nothing but win since arriving in the UFC last year, notching victories over Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland, and Bo Nickal in addition to the Whittaker win.
Reinider de Ridder is ranked #5, while Anthony Hernandez sits one spot behind him at #6 in the UFC’s official 185lb rankings.
While the winner of RDR versus “Fluffy” could very well find themselves stepping into a title shot against Chimaev, another fight on the horizon could also stake a claim to that spot. In September at UFC Paris, #1 ranked Nassourdine Imavov takes on #7 ranked Caio Borralho.
Of course, Chimaev had expressed interested in fighting in Abu Dhabi in October, though that seems unlikely to happen now given the timing.
