Preview: UFC 319 Prelims

Middleweights

Michal Oleksiejczuk (20-9, 8-7 UFC) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (37-19, 12-11 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Oleksiejczuk (-218), Meerschaert (+180)

Oleksiejczuk has had an interesting UFC career full of highs and lows, and the Pole could be starting to find a bit of a balance. Based on his regional footage, the hope was that Oleksiejczuk could find success leaning on his durability and outlasting his opponents, but instead, the opposite happened early in his UFC career. Oleksiejczuk scored a few quick knockouts, then seemingly became dead set on that approach, hunting for the quick finish and falling apart if one didn’t present itself. After a few years of competing as an undersized light heavyweight, a cut down to middleweight didn’t do much to solve those issues, to the point where a three-fight skid potentially had Oleksiejczuk on the cut line ahead of his April fight against Sedriques Dumas. Oleksiejczuk switched things up for the camp, moving to the Fighting Nerds amid their recent success, and that seemed to pay some dividends, as he looked a bit more patient before diving in for the eventual finish. Perhaps he continues to exercise that caution more against Meerschaert.

Meerschaert took the long road to the UFC, fighting over 30 times before getting the call for his debut, at which point that experience paid off. Meerschaert isn’t much of an athlete per UFC standards, but he kept finding a way to tangle up with opponents and get some submissions. Meerschaert has even developed a capable striking game along the way, making him a perennially tough out given any sort of athletic parity. There are basically two ways this fight can go, with Oleksiejczuk either obliterating Meerschaert for a knockout or getting himself submitted after hunting for that finish. Oleksiejczuk still showed enough wildness in the win over Dumas to lean towards the latter scenario. The pick is Meerschaert via second-round submission.



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