The UFC travels to Vancouver this weekend for another on-the-road Fight Night, this time headlined by Renier de Ridder and Brendan Allen, who face off in a bout that could have a major impact on who ends up being next in title contention to face UFC Middleweight Champion, Khamzat Chimaev.
Kevin Holland, fighting for the fifth time this year, is looking to bounce back from a loss against Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 318 and defeat Canadian talent, Mike Malott.
The #15 ranked contender at 170 lbs is putting his ranking on the line against the Ontario native, who is 5-1 since entering the UFC via the Dana White Contender Series in 2021. Malott has finished all but one of his wins since signing with the promotion, with a sole decision victory against Trevin Giles going the distance.
Kevin Holland Prefers To Not Plan Ahead Of Fighting Opponents
And Holland, who remains the UFC’s busiest and most active fighter by far, speaking at the UFC Media Day, noted that he does not game plan for his opponents, lest he end up losing the fight, as I, Daniel Arwas, reported on Wednesday.
“Usually when I game plan I get my ass whooped”, Holland said to the media.
Holland also mentioned to the media that he plans to fight once more this year; which will likely come in December; and then eight times in 2026.
Holland has made a habit of going back and forth in the win and loss column during his time in the UFC – and certainly in recent years.
Since a no-contest against Kyle Daukaus in October 2021, Holland has fought a massive 14 (!) times, going exactly 7-7 in those bouts.
In 2025 alone, he is 2-2, so this all-important bout will secure whether Holland will be able to finish his hopefully-six-fight year with a winning record.
Reinier de Ridder Confident That He Will Be Next To Fight Chimaev
In further UFC Vancouver news, Reinier de Ridder has a clear belief that he will be When asked at the same media day whether he thought he would be able to leapfrog Nassourdine Imavov to be Khamzat Chimaev’s challenger in the next middleweight title fight, de Ridder replied that, “Imavov is not getting a tittle shot”.
Pushed to clarify whether he had some inside information with the UFC, or if de Ridder was simply riding off his confidence in himself to do what needs to be done on Saturday night to be undeniable for the next title contention spot, de Ridder replied, “both”.
De Ridder goes into the fight as a moderate favorite ahead of Brendan Allen, who was the fill-in for the injured Anthony Hernandez that the Dutchman was originally paired up with.
Hernandez already beat Allen in a fight earlier this year in Seattle. And if the original bout had stayed as it was, the winner of the fight had a very plausible shot at being the next title contender at 185 lbs, particularly after the slightly uninspiring bout between Imavov and Caio Borralho back in September.
Now, at this point, de Ridder will have to pull off something very impressive if he is to prove to Dana that he should unequivocally be next in line for the shot.
Kevin Holland Reveals Why He Does Not Gameplan Ahead Of Fights