Reinier de Ridder (21-2) will face Anthony Hernandez (15-2) in a five-round main event at UFC Fight Night 262 on Oct. 18 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The bout is positioned as a potential middleweight title eliminator, with the winner possibly advancing to challenge Khamzat Chimaev. Another top contender matchup between Nassourdine Imavov (16-4) and Caio Borralho (17-1) is scheduled in Paris next month and is also in contention to produce a challenger. Khamzat Chimaev recently won the middleweight title at UFC 319 by unanimous decision over Dricus Du Plessis.
"In the main event, it's a five-round fight between middleweight contenders Reinier de Ridder and Anthony \"Fluffy\" Hernandez. And obviously, next month in Paris, we have another top middleweight contender fight between No. 2-ranked Imavov and 7th-ranked Borralho. And Vancouver is a few weeks later," White said on social media.
"We'll see how this whole thing plays out, and we're gonna end up with a middleweight challenger for Khamzat Chimaev 's title that he just won. So these fights have massive implications."
🚨 Dana White says the next challenger for Khamzat Chimaev's title could be either the winner of RDR vs Fluffy OR Imavov vs Borralho 👀 "We'll see how this whole thing plays out, and we're gonna end up with a middleweight challenger for Khamzat Chimaev's title... These fights...pic.twitter.com/6hTwSMzs2k - Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 19, 2025
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