Reinier de Ridder expresses disappointment at losing Anthony Hernandez fight

UFC star Reinier de Ridder has expressed disappointment at Anthony Hernandez being forced out of their fight.

Right now, Reinier de Ridder is one of the most fascinating contenders in all the UFC. He is enjoying life in the middleweight division and after defeating Robert Whittaker, he was given a number one contender fight (of sorts) against Anthony Hernandez. However, now that ‘Fluffy’ has pulled out, Brendan Allen has stepped up to try and make a statement of his own against RDR.

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While de Ridder will still be happy to have an opponent, it’s certainly a shame that we aren’t going to get the Hernandez fight – at least for the time being. Things are looking pretty congested at 185 pounds and at the very least, that should hopefully mean that we have plenty of potential challengers for Khamzat Chimaev and the world championship.

In a recent interview, de Ridder spoke candidly about this switch up in the last few weeks.

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“It was a big letdown. It was a shame,” De Ridder told MMA Junkie Radio. “He really has a cool skill set, ‘Fluffy’ has, and he came in with a lot of hype, so I was very sad he pulled out. And there were a couple of days I didn’t expect anyone to step up at all to be honest. Nobody wanted to fight. We tried Costa, but Costa wanted on his own terms, so that didn’t happen. I’m very, very grateful that Brendan took the call.”

RDR went on to discuss the fact that while they once shared the same gym, he never really trained much with his new foe Allen.

“We never really trained much,” de Ridder said. “He was never that welcoming to me, so I never really wanted to work with him.”

“I like everybody,” de Ridder said. “I’m not somebody to hold a grudge at all. I train with all the middleweights, but he never wanted to train with me. I don’t know why.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie