Two men who recently made headway in the UFC middleweight title picture will gain another opportunity to inch even closer to a shot at Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC Vancouver main event.
Renier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez competed in the card's main event, which goes down on October 18 at the Rogers Arena.
UFC CEO & President Dana White officially confirmed this bout, as well as others, during an Instagram live stream.
White also hinted that the winner who performs best between this fight and the Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho bout that takes place at UFC Paris on September 6 may be first in line to challenge Chimaev. Chimaev defeated Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title at UFC 319 this past Saturday.
Reinier De Ridder vs. Anthony Hernandez To Headline UFC Vancouver, Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi To Serve As Co-Main
De Ridder, the former two-division champion in ONE Championship, is 4-0 in the UFC since making his promotional debut this past November. He has scored submissions over Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland, a TKO of Bo Nickal, and a split decision over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. The Whittaker fight took place just last month in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event.
Hernandez has won eight straight and is 9-2 in the UFC. He fought just a couple of weeks ago in the UFC Vegas 109 main event, dominating Roman Dolidze en route to a fourth-round submission.
The UFC Vancouver co-main event will see former bantamweight title challenger Marlon "Chito" Vera taking on Aiemann Zahabi.
Vera has lost two straight and three of his last four, having last fought in a loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at last year's UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Night event. Zahabi, meanwhile, has won six straight and is 7-2 in the UFC. Zahabi fought in a featherweight bout at UFC 315, defeating former bantamweight king Jose Aldo, who retired from pro MMA a second time following the bout.
The aforementioned Holland will also be competing at UFC Vancouver, facing Mike Malott. Holland is 3-3 in his last six, dropping a decision to Daniel Rodriguez in a wild fight at UFC 318 that Holland took on short notice. Malott is 12-2-1 in professional MMA, which includes a 5-1 UFC record since joining off a first-round finish on Dana White's Contender Series. Malott most recently fought at UFC 315, knocking out Charles Radtke.
An important women's flyweight contest was also announced, as Manon Fiorot will take on Jasmine Jasudavicius. Fiorot unsuccessfully challenged Valentina Shevchenko for the women's flyweight title at UFC 315 -- a fight that snapped a 7-0 unbeaten run in the UFC and a 12-fight winning streak Fiorot had since dropping her pro MMA debut. Jasudavicius, meanwhile, has won five straight and seven of eight, submitting Jessica Andrade on that same UFC 315 card.