UFC Fans in Vancouver will be treated to a loaded middleweight bout when the promotion arrives at Rogers Arena in October.
Dana White announced Tuesday that No. 5-ranked Reinier de Ridder will square off against No. 6 Anthony Hernandez in the main event at UFC Vancouver in October.
De Ridder has risen up the middleweight ranks in 2025, improving to 4-0 as a UFC fighter by knocking off the likes of Kevin Holland, Bo Nickal and Robert Whittaker all in this calendar year.
The 34-year-old has found himself in the middle of some recent online beef with current middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev after the two went back and forth on X on Monday.
"Congrats on the belt. But I will show you what true grappling dominance looks like. Sign the contract," de Ridder wrote to Chimaev after the Russian took down Dricus Du Plessis for the title on Saturday night.
"I’m gonna make you look like white belt habibi," Chimaev wrote back hours later.
Regardless of the simmering tension between the two, de Ridder will turn his focus to Hernandez, who is on an eight-fight win streak of his own. Hernandez most recently beat Roman Dolidze by a rear-naked choke submission on Aug. 9.
In addition to the main event, White and UFC announced that Canada's own Mike Malott will fight Kevin Holland in a welterweight bout.
Malott will enter the octagon in Vancouver having won two straight fights, beating Trevin Giles by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 246 last November and Charlie Radtke by knockout at UFC 315 in May.
The native of Burlington, Ont., will be tasked with taking down the No. 15-ranked Holland, who is 2-2 in 2025, picking up victories against Gunnar Nelson in March and Vicente Luque in June.
Holland lost his most recent fight against Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 318 by unanimous decision.
In addition to those two bouts, the UFC also officially confirmed that Canadians Jasmine Jasudavicius and Aiemann Zahabi will be on the card in Vancouver.
St. Catharines, Ont.'s Jasudavicius will take on Manon Fiorot at flyweight in her third fight of 2025. The 36-year-old Canuck has won five straight fights, dating back to January 2024. Her two most recent victories came over Mayra Bueno Silva and Jéssica Andrade.
Fiorot is the second-ranked contender in the women's flyweight division and lost to Valentina Shevchenko in a title fight at UFC 315 in May.
Zahabi, meanwhile, will take on the No. 7-ranked Marlon Vera in a bantamweight bout.
The 37-year-old from Montreal is the No. 10-ranked bantamweight contender and has won six consecutive fights to improve his UFC record to 7-2-0.
It will be Vera's first fight in over a year. The 32-year-old last set foot in the octagon last August, losing by unanimous decision to Deiveson Figueiredo. Vera was scheduled to fight at UFC 316 in June, but withdrew for unknown reasons.
The UFC Fight Night will be Vancouver's 10th UFC event since 2020, second only to Toronto for the most events hosted in Canada.
It will mark the 36th UFC event in Canada since UFC 83 in 2008.
