Gerald Meerschaert Meets Krzysztof Jotko on April 30 at UFC on ESPN 35

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A pair of Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights with a combined 30 fights of Octagon experience will square off at the end of April.

Per MMA Junkie on Thursday, Gerald Meerschaert (34-14) will come to blows with Krzysztof Jotko (23-5) in the 185-pound division on April 30. The middleweights will throw down on UFC on ESPN 35, which is slated to take place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The matchup has since been confirmed by both fighters on their Instagram pages.

Coming into this battle that may bring with it rankings implications is Meerschaert, who is riding a three-fight submission streak over Bartosz Fabinski, Makhmud Muradov and Dustin Stoltzfus. Since joining the roster in 2016, “GM3” has never won by any way other than stoppage, with eight submission wins to his credit a new record across the UFC’s middleweight division. As a pro, the Roufusport standout celebrates a finish rate of 94%, only going the distance twice in his entire UFC tenure.

Like Meerschaert, Jotko has competed under the UFC banner 15 times to date, and he won in his most previous outing by snagging a split decision over Misha Cirkunov in October 2021. Dating back to 2019, the Polish product has rattled off four wins among a single defeat, with decisions over Alen Amedovski, Marc-Andre Barriault and Eryk Anders coming before a three-round defeat to Sean Strickland. A stark contrast to his opponent, Jotko has only recorded a single finish – a first-round knockout over Tamdan McCrory in 2016 – in his 10 wins as a UFC fighter.

UFC on ESPN 35 is set for April 30, but it does not currently have a main event or any significant main card designations for bouts on the card that will be held inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Other matchups on the billing include a flyweight clash between Antonina Shevchenko and Cortney Casey, a lightweight tilt pitting Jared Gordon against Rafael Alves, a strawweight affair between Jessica Penne and Luana Pinheiro and a heavyweight contest as Jake Collier takes on Justin Tafa.