Preview: UFC Fight Night 199 Prelims

Most of the depth for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s final event of 2021 was saved for the main card, but the UFC Fight Night 199 prelims still represent a solid arrangement of eight bouts. Gerald Meerschaert looks to cap off a strong year in the featured slot, as he takes on Dustin Stoltzfus in a middleweight showcase. However, the two most important fights come from women’s divisions. Bantamweights Raquel Pennington and Macy Chiasson are the lone ranked fighters on the undercard, while Sijara Eubanks tries to establish herself as a dark horse flyweight contender against Melissa Gatto. Beyond that, Charles Jourdain always provides a good time, and unranked heavyweight guarantee some sort of entertainment. All in all, this serves as a solid appetizer.

Now to the preview for the UFC Fight Night “Lewis vs. Daukaus” prelims:

Middleweights

NR | Gerald Meerschaert (33-14, 8-6 UFC) vs. NR | Dustin Stoltzfus (13-3, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Meerschaert (-230), Stoltzfus (+190)

Meerschaert has enjoyed a nice rebound in 2021. He took the long road to the UFC roster, getting the call over 30 fights and nearly a decade into his pro career, and he made the most of the opportunity with wins over Joe Gigliotti and Ryan Janes to kick off his Octagon campaign. “GM3” has hit a clear ceiling in the years since against the better athletes in the division, but he has almost always been a tough out for his opposition, even surviving and gutting out wins against prospects like Trevin Giles and Deron Winn—men who should have beaten him on paper. That is what made Meerschaert’s 2020 run so concerning. He suffered a quick knockout loss to Ian Heinisch, tested positive for COVID-19, then got run over by Khamzat Chimaev, raising some concern that Meerschaert’s body was betraying him as he continued to hone his craft. However, Meerschaert rebounded with a submission win over Bartosz Fabinski in April, then scored what might be the best victory of his UFC career in August, surviving some early damage before scoring a submission over top prospect Makhmud Muradov. After losing his initial opponent on this card, Meerschaert now closes out 2021 against Stoltzfus, who also found himself without an opponent due to some late card changes. It is a rough turn for Stoltzfus, who has struggled to find his footing in the UFC thus far and now finds himself facing what might be the toughest test of his UFC career. An American who settled in Germany and found success on the mixed martial arts scene there, Stoltzfus is a well-rounded fighter with some solid physicality. However, he looks very much like someone who was able to rely on his wrestling and grappling against regional-level competition. There are still likely wins for Stoltzfus on the UFC roster, but the matchmaking has not done him any favors. He has been matched with a tireless grappler in Kyle Daukaus, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion in Rodolfo Vieira and now a rugged and skilled veteran in Meerschaert. At some point over the course of this fight, one of these two men is going to look to grapple, and Meerschaert is way too proven in that phase of the game to go against him. The pick is Meerschaert via second-round submission.

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