The main card for UFC 319 has been decided.
It’s been confirmed that Dricus du Plessis will defend the UFC Middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev. This will be the second title defense for the 31-year-old as Plessis is coming off strong wins over Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. Plessis remains undefeated in the UFC, and hasn’t lost a bout since 2018. His professional record stands at 23 wins and 2 losses.
Khamzat has yet to lose a fight on the other hand. Chimaev earned his title match when he got a very impressive submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. That came after his dominant win over another former UFC Middleweight Champion, Kamaru Usman, at UFC 294. Out of his 14 wins, Khamzat has won 12 of them by either submission or TKO. Khamzat’s professional record stands at 14 wins and 0 losses.
Now there’s rumors that the co-main event will be a lightweight bout between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje. The UFC Middleweight Champion himself revealed the lightweight fight on a podcast. Thus far, Dana White has yet to confirm (or deny)du Plessis’ claim. It should be a very interesting fight if it does go down.
The rest of the card has several notable names such as Jared Cannonier, Edson Barboza, and Gerald Meerschaert. Of course, the huge sell if du Plessis vs. Chimaev, which should be one hell of a fight once the bell rings.
With every MMA fight, plans can always change, but below is the confirmed main card for UFC 319. Expect the preliminary bouts to be added a short time later.
- MAIN EVENT: UFC Middleweight Championship: Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev
- Jared Cannonier vs. Michael ‘Venom’ Page
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Edson Barboza vs. Drakkar Klose
- King Green vs. Diego Ferreira
- Karine Silva vs. JJ Aldrich
- Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
- Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura
- Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez
- Jessica Andrade vs. Loopy Godinez