Reinier de Ridder is staying busy with his next fight already booked against Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez in the main event at UFC Vancouver on Oct. 18 from the Rogers Center.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairing on Tuesday along with an intriguing welterweight matchup joining the card as Kevin Holland faces Canada’s own Mike Malott. Two previously confirmed fights are also official with Marlon “Chito” Vera taking on Aiemann Zahabi while Manon Fiorot takes on Jasmine Jasudavicius at flyweight.
The
main event comes together just a day after de Ridder was calling for a title shot against new middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev following his dominant victory over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319. Already 3-0 on the year, de Ridder most recently dispatched former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in July but rather than sit and wait for a potential title shot, he’ll get back in action instead with his second straight main event.
A former two-division champion at ONE Championship, de Ridder is 4-0 thus far in his UFC campaign with additional wins over Bo Nickal and Kevin Holland as well.
As for Hernandez, he returns to action after a statement win over Roman Dolidze to notch his eighth win in a row overall. Hernandez has also picked up recent wins over Brendan Allen and Michel Pereira.
Meanwhile, Holland competes for the fifth time in 2025 after going 2-2 in his first four bouts of the year. Holland scored impressive wins over Gunnar Nelson and Vicente Luque but then dropped a decision to Daniel Rodriguez back in July at UFC 318.
Holland attempts to get back in the win column when he faces Malott, who picked up back-to-back wins after suffering his first loss in the UFC when he fell to Neil Magny in early 2024.
The full fight card and bout order for UFC Vancouver is still to be determined.
