UFC Announces First Nine Fights For UFC 319 PPV Fight Car
TORONTO, ONTARIO - JANUARY 20: Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his victory against ... More Sean Strickland in a UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The next defense of the UFC middleweight title headlines the UFC 319 pay-per-view fight card. In that matchup, Dricus du Plessis looks to defend his title against the No. 3 ranked UFC middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev. UFC 319 takes place on August 16 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The UFC has not held a Chicago fight card since 2019. In addition to the main event, the UFC has confirmed several other fights for the ESPN+ streaming PPV card.
Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev - For Du Plessis's UFC middleweight title
Jared Cannonier vs. Michael Page - Middleweight
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk - Middleweight
Edson Barboza vs. Drakkar Klose - Lightweight
King Green vs. Diego Ferreira - Lightweight
Karine Silva vs. JJ Aldrich - Women's Flyweight
Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev - Middleweight
Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez - Lightweight
Jessica Andrade vs. Loopy Godinez - Women's Strawweight
Saturday, August 16, 2025
United Center in Chicago, IL
On Sale on Friday, June 20
Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET
Preliminary Card: 8:00 p.m. ET
Early Prelims: 6:00 p.m. ET
South Africa's Dricus du Plessis celebrates his victory over Sean Strickland of the US after their ... More men's middleweight division event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 312 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on February 9, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Dricus du Plessis (23-2) joined the UFC in October 2020 as a 26-year-old with a 14-2 record. Before he joined the UFC, Du Plessis had won titles with KSW and EFC. He made his debut against Markus Perez on the main card of a UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi. Du Plessis knocked out Perez in the first round. He followed that win with a July 2021 'Performance of the Night' KO win of Trevin Giles.
Those two wins earned him a shot against the ranked veteran Brad Tavares. Du Plessis won that scrap via decision. The victory put him in the top 15 of the division. A December 2022 submission win over Darren Till moved Du Plessis to No. 10 in the division. A TKO win over the No. 5 ranked Derek Brunson followed.
Du Plessis, who was working his way up the rankings, faced a tough test in his next outing when he met the No. 2 ranked Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Du Plessis continued his rise, knocking out the former UFC champion in the UFC middleweight title eliminator and earning another 'Performance of the Night' bonus.
More important than the bonus was the title shot Du Plessis received for that win. He faced then-champion Sean Strickland in January, taking the title from Strickland in a 'Fight of the Night' bonus-winning scrap.
In his first title defense Du Plessis picked up an August 2024 submission win over former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.
Du Plessis most recently faced Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312 in early February of this year. Du Plessis won that contest via unanimous decision.
I wrote of the champ after that fight, "Dricus du Plessis looked much more controlled and less reckless at UFC 312 than in many of his previous battles. He mixed up his striking techniques and targets against Sean Strickland, landed the more powerful blows, and didn't put himself in too many awkward positions.
"Du Plessis did a much better job in his UFC 312 rematch against Strickland in shutting down his foe's offense. In the first fight, Strickland landed 173 of 408 significant strikes. While in the rematch, Strickland was held to 128 landed strikes on 263 attempts. Meanwhile, Du Plessis increased his landed strikes and landing percentage from the first fight to the second. In the first battle, Du Plessis landed 137 of 354 attempts for a landing rate of 38 percent. At UFC 312, the champ landed 147 of 314 attempts for a striking rate of 46 percent.
'Du Plessis has defended the UFC middleweight crown twice while going 9-0 in the UFC. Despite his winning ways, the champ remains a bit of an enigma because his style shouldn't work — but it does.'
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 26: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia reacts after a submission ... More victory against Robert Whittaker of New Zealand in a middleweight fight during the UFC 308 event at Etihad Arena on October 26, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Chimaev (14-0) is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings. The 30-year-old made his UFC debut in July 2020 with a second-round submission win over John Phillips. He followed that victory with a first-round TKO over Rhys McKee 10 days later, breaking the UFC record for the quickest turnaround between UFC wins in the modern era. Then, in September, Chimaev knocked out Gerald Meerschaert.
Things slowed down for Chimaev after that. He was booked to face Leon Edwards in December 2020, but that matchup never came to be despite multiple attempts to make the fight happen. The reason behind the numerous cancellations of Edwards vs. Chimaev was COVID-19.
When Chimaev finally returned to the Octagon in October 2021, he made short work of Li Jingliang, scoring a submission at 3:16 of Round 1.
In his next bout, Chimaev went the distance for the first time in his career, picking up a victory over Gilbert Burns. He followed that with a submission over Kevin Holland.
A break of more than a year followed that victory. Chimaev's next outing was an October 2023 matchup against Kamaru Usman, a fight that Chimaev won via decision.
A year after that, Chimaev made short work of Robert Whittaker, defeating the ex-UFC middleweight champ via submission (face crank) in the first round of their UFC 308 scrap.
We will have more on Du Plessis vs. Chimaev and the UFC 319 fight card as fight night approaches.
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