Fight Coverage
Massive Middleweight Stretch Starts Saturday Night
A Handful Of Can’t Miss Middleweight Matchups, Including A Title Fight, Cover The Next Few Weeks Of Action Inside The Octagon
The middleweight division has quickly become one full of exciting storylines and matchups.
That is on display over the next few weeks as a handful of pivotal fights are set to go down at 185 pounds, including a title fight featuring Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev that has everyone counting down the days until UFC 319.
Kicking things off this Saturday inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas will be a bout between No. 9 ranked Roman Dolidze and the surging No. 10 contender Anthony Hernandez to close out the card. Dolidze enters his third main event on a three-fight win streak after knocking off Anthony Smith, Kevin Holland and avenging a loss against Marvin Vettori. With all but four of his wins ending inside the distance, he makes an exciting dance partner for “Fluffy.”
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Hernandez has been on quite the run himself, as he has rattled off seven straight wins since his loss to Kevin Holland back in 2020. The 31-year-old enters his second fight of 2025 after picking up a unanimous decision win over familiar foe Brendan Allen back in February. With a lot happening at the top of the division, both men are hungry to stake their claim and insert themselves into the list of contenders for whoever leaves United Center as champion next weekend.
Before Du Plessis and Chimaev make the walk in Chicago, former title challenger Jared Cannnoier locks horns with Michael “Venom” Page, who enters his second fight at middleweight after competing at 170 pounds in his first two UFC appearances. Cannonier got back in the win column with an important stoppage win over Gregory Rodrigues, a performance that landed him his second straight Fight of the Night bonus. Since challenging former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for the belt back in 2022, it has been a bag of mixed results for the 40-year-old, but he still remains a staple in the 185-pound weight class and still aspires to be the champion one day.
Meanwhile, Page is on the hunt to pick up that first crack at UFC gold. The Brit has gone 2-1 inside the Octagon, defeating Kevin Holland and Shara Magomedov, but falling to Ian Machado Garry last June. Page is still searching for that first finish inside the Octagon, but we got to see more his speed and movement last time out when he handed Magomedov the first loss of his career. A win over Cannonier will likely put Page into the mix of the top 15, and one step closer to a chance at gold.
Three fights later in Chicago, the middleweight strap will be on the line for a fight everyone has been talking about at 185 pounds. “Stillknocks” enters his second fight of the year after defeating Sean Strickland for a second time earlier this year in Sydney. His fight against Chimaev marks his third title defense, and it’s one that many fans are anxiously awaiting to see how it plays out.
Since entering the UFC, Du Plessis has been a force to be reckoned with, taking out veterans such as Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. With only two losses on his resume, the South African comes into this title fight on an 11-fight win streak. But will he be the man to take Chimaev’s undefeated record? “Borz” has also been a man that has impressed since the moment he stepped onto the scene back in 2020. After an extremely active debut year in 2020, things have been a bit rough for Chimaev, who has dealt with health issues that forced him to withdraw from fights. After a year away, Chimaev returned to competition last October, and did so in a big way, submitting Whittaker with a nasty face crank in round one. All eyes will be on this matchup in what is sure to be a thrilling end to UFC’s return to Chicago.
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It's the matchup three weeks after the title fight that could determine the next one to challenge for the belt, as France’s Nassourdine Imavov gets to headline in Paris against Brazil’s Caio Borralho. Imavov sits at No. 1 in the 185-pound rankings, picking up wins over Dolidze, Cannonier and Allen, and most recently finishing Adesanya in the second round.
On the other hand, Borralho has been unstoppable since he made his debut in 2022 after competing on Dana White’s Contender Series twice. Last August, Borralhocompeted in his first UFC main event, where he earned Fight of the Night honors and a unanimous decision win over Cannonier. Both of these middleweights have never been knocked out in their career, but each brings a lot of power in their hands. If the Brazilian can secure the win over Imavov, he puts himself in a great position to fight for gold in the not too distant future.
It's an intriguing time to be a middleweight, and there’s a lot set to go down in the division over the next weeks. It all starts Saturday night in Las Vegas at UFC Fight Night: Dolidze vs Hernandez.
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