Middleweights
Bruno Silva (22-7, 3-1 UFC) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (34-15, 9-7 UFC)After a successful career globally, Silva’s UFC tenure almost ended before it began. Upon signing with the UFC in 2019, “Blindado” immediately failed a drug test and earned a two-year suspension. The UFC stuck by Silva, who made up for lost time with a string of three straight knockouts in the back half of 2021. Silva has some skill, including on the mat, but once the fight starts, he has little consideration for anything other than attempting to drive his fist into his opponent’s skull as hard as possible. Wellington Turman and Jordan Wright each quickly felt Silva’s power and got knocked out, but Andrew Sanchez was able to outmaneuver and outwrestle him for a while before tiring and suffering a third-round knockout. In Silva’s last fight, Alex Pereira handled things more or less everywhere and left him without much of an effective path to victory. Silva looks to rebound against Meerschaert, who continues on as a tough veteran test for most of his opponents. Meerschaert was over 30 fights deep into his career when he got the UFC call in 2016, and “GM3” surprisingly had room for improvement upon hitting the big stage. Once purely a grimy grinder, Meerschaert has done a solid job of being able to hold his own on the feet whenever necessary. Meerschaert still has a clear physical ceiling and occasionally gets obliterated by a more explosive opponent—most recently Khamzat Chimaev in 2020—but he has pulled out an underdog win just as often. Even when things look well in hand for his opponent, as they did for Makhmud Muradov a shade under a year ago, Meerschaert still has a chance at victory for as long as he is in the fight. In Muradov’s case, Meerschaert was able to hunt down a second-round submission. Silva leaves enough openings that Meerschaert could just find a way to grind out three rounds, but the safer bet is that the Brazilian can find at least one opportunity to end the fight over 15 minutes, even if it might be an adventure to get there. The pick is Silva via third-round stoppage.
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Vera vs. Cruz
Onama vs. Landwehr
Jauregui vs. Lucindo
Murzakanov vs. Clark
Calvillo vs. Nunes
Silva vs. Meerschaert
The Prelims