Pair of Middleweight Tilts Added to UFC Chicago in August

Of these two new Ultimate Fighting Championship pairings, one of them might not make much sense.

On Thursday and Friday, two interesting matches at 185 pounds were slotted into the lineup for UFC Chicago. The middleweight contests will play out inside of the United Center on Aug. 16. The first, as announced by the Fighting Nerds team, pits Gerald Meerschaert (37-19) against Michal Oleksiejczuk (20-9, 1 NC) in about as quintessential of a striker vs. grappler affair one could make. The second, which was released by the promotion itself on Friday, takes place between Jared Cannonier (18-8) and Michael Page (23-3).

Submission savant Meerschaert has dropped his last two, accounting for a submission defeat to Reinier de Ridder last November, and a decision to Brad Tavares in April. Those two losses put a pair of second-round submissions in the rear view, as he had wrangled Bryan Barberena and Edmen Shahbazyan to remain relevant at the mercurial division. Since joining the promotion in 2016, every win for “GM3” has been a stoppage.

While the submission rate for Meerschaert is a bit under 80%, the knockout rate for Oleksiejczuk is nearly that as well—when adding his lone sub, a rear-naked choke, the Polish fighter’s stoppage rate rises to an even 80%. In April, “Hussar” put distance between three consecutive losses by getting back in the win column with a beatdown of Sedriques Dumas. All but one of Oleksiejczuk’s victories in the promotion have come by knockout.

Ex-title challenger Cannonier finds himself in a strange situation, having fought most of the top 10 at 185 pounds. Previously dispatching Gregory Rodrigues in the fourth frame atop their UFC Fight Night 251 event in February, Cannonier kept himself in the title picture. It marked his first knockout in almost exactly three years, with the 41-year-old generally going all three or five rounds as of late.

This will not be the first middleweight jaunt for Page, as he tested the waters in Super Fight League in 2013. Over the years, the Brit has also dabbled in multiple catchweights above 170 pounds in order to get competition. In his last time out, he relocated to 185 pounds officially to outhustle Sharabutdin Magomedov, taking a decision over the one-eyed striker.

These two middleweight clashes will likely serve on the main card of UFC 319, also known as UFC Chicago. The main attraction also comes at the same weight class, with the promotion potentially building in backup plans in case the title tilt of Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev falls apart—rumors have swirled that Chimaev is already out, and that Nassourdine Imavov may step up, but those have been unsubstantiated to this point. Other matches on the billing include a flyweight thriller between Tim Elliott and Kai Asakura, as well as a lightweight banger pitting Edson Barboza against Drakkar Klose.