Allen stops De Ridder by corner stoppage in UFC Vancouver main event

Reinier de Ridder, the unbeaten UFC middleweight entrant, was forced to retire between rounds and Brendan Allen claimed a fourth-round technical knockout in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The late replacement Allen wore down de Ridder across four rounds with pressure and ground strikes, and de Ridder’s corner stopped the fight before the fifth round.

Allen surged after a competitive opening round, taking top position repeatedly in rounds two through four and landing heavy elbows and ground-and-pound that left de Ridder visibly fatigued and bloodied. Officials recorded the result as a TKO corner stoppage at 5:00 of round four. The victory is likely to move Allen up the middleweight rankings and has been framed by UFC officials and fighters as a potential step toward a title eliminator at 185 pounds.

De Ridder’s team defended the stoppage as a medical and safety decision. Coach Harun Ozkan said he "take[s] full responsibility" for throwing in the towel and that the call was made to protect his fighter’s health after signs of fading appeared. De Ridder later posted on social media that he had been "battled norovirus all week, could...