De Ridder, meanwhile, enters the fight off a split decision win over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. âThe Dutch Knightâ 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 UFCâs official 185lb rankings.
While the winner of RDR versus âFluffyâ 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.
Finally good to see some new faces in the mix.
185 got gatekept by the likes of Adesanya, Whittaker, and Strickland for a long time.
Itâs a good match, but youâre killing off a contender.
What makes this look worse is not only are they doing it with this fight, but Caio vs Imavov tooâŚDoesnât make any sense in a thin division that needs new contenders
hope rdr knows body shots are fluffers kryptonite
Give the winner of each fight a title shot successively, so we have 2 new title contenders lined up. You really canât have 4 guys in line for a title without anyone fighting each other, imo.
Great fight, loser should fight the loser of Caio/Imavov.
UFC Vancouver Main Card On ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Manon Fiorot vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
125 lbs.: Bruno Silva vs. Hyun Sung Park
135 lbs.: Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi
170 lbs.: Kevin Holland vs. Mike Malote
UFC Vancouver Prelims Card On ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):
115 lbs.: Stephanie Luciano vs. Ravena Oliveira
185 lbs.: Danny Barlow vs. Djorden Santos
185 lbs.: Azamat Bekoev vs. Yousri Belgaroui
thatâs the way mma should work imo
Losene Keita Debuts vs. Patricio Pitbull At UFC Paris
The UFC is set for rare off-week following this weekendâs return to Shanghai that saw Johnny Walker upset Chinese juggernaut Mingyang Zhang in the nightâs main event, and on September 6 the worldâs leading MMA promotion heads back to the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
UFC Paris is headlined by a possible middleweight title eliminator between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho, and it also features plenty other high-profile fights like the co-main event between Franceâs Benoit Saint-Denis and Mauricio Ruffy.
Chimaev took no damage his last two fights, why isnât he fighting again soon?
Bump
Fight Change