UFC Fight Roundup: Aspen Ladd, Gerald Meerschaert among returning fighters

UFC 273: Volkanovski v The Korean Zombie

UFC fights come together fast these days, and if you blink, you can easily miss them. In Fight Roundup, we bring you the latest reported matchups to keep you up to date with what’s on the horizon.

All bouts featured have been confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, and Damon Martin via sources with knowledge of the matchups.


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Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

Sara McMann vs. Aspen Ladd

In a battle of bantamweights holding down spots in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, No. 8 Sara McMann (13-6) fights No. 15 Aspen Ladd (9-3) at an upcoming Aug. 13 UFC event with a location still to be determined.

McMann, a one-time UFC title challenger, kept her top-10 spot with a unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa at UFC Columbus this past March. Rosa was victorious over her four previous opponents in the Octagon before this loss.

This fight is Ladd’s opportunity to climb back up the rankings as she is currently in a 1-3 slump, with losses to Raquel Pennington, Norma Dumont and Germaine de Randamie. The 27-year-old’s career progress has been further slowed by a 2020 knee injury as well as difficulties with making weight at 135 pounds.

The bout was first reported by All Access MMA.

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Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bruno Silva

One of the UFC’s best grapplers is about to face one of its most dangerous strikers as Gerald Meerschaert (34-15) will soon fight Bruno “Blindado” Silva (22-7) on Aug. 13.

Meerschaert is the owner of 26 career submission wins, while 19 of Silva’s 22 victories have come by way of knockout. Both fighters are coming off of the wrong end of unanimous decisions, with Meerschaert losing to Krzysztof Jotko at UFC Vegas 53 and Silva losing to Alex Pereira at UFC Vegas 50.

The bout was first reported by Ag. Fight.

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Billy Quarantillo vs. Bill Algeo

Billy Quarantillo (16-4) and Bill Algeo (15-6) are set for a featherweight matchup that will take place at a July 16 UFC event with a location still to be determined. This bouts pits two exciting fighter’s in the deep 145-pound division against one another, with both having previously earned “Fight of the Night” honors.

Quarantillo’s UFC record sits at 4-2 after sandwiching a win over Gabriel Benitez with losses to Shane Burgos and Gavin Tucker in his past three outings, while Algeo has fought to a decision in all four of his UFC fights so far with wins over Joanderson Brito and Spike Carlyle.

The bout was first reported by Sherdog.com.

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Jake Matthews vs. Andre Fialho

Jake Matthews, Andre Fialho will be heading to Singapore.

The welterweights are expected to clash at UFC 275, which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 11. Full Violence was first to report the bout.

This will be Matthews’ first fight since March of last year, when he lost by third-round submission to Sean Brady at UFC 259. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Matthews.

Fialho, a recent PFL competitor, has been a man on a mission since stepping in on short notice to fight Michel Pereira at UFC 270 in January. While he lost a decision to Pereira, he’s rebounded with back-to-back first-round knockouts of Cameron VanCamp and Miguel Baeza. These two victories were achieved in three weeks. Fialho declared that he would like to surpass the current record of five UFC appearances per year (a record held by Kevin Holland, Kevin Holland and Thiago Santos).

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Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Tafon Nchukwi vs. Carlos Ulberg

Tafon Nchukwi and Carlos Ulberg are getting a shot to build some momentum in the light heavyweight division. The two have been booked to fight at a June 25 UFC event, with a location still to be determined.

This matchup will feature two Contender Series signees, who appeared together on the fourth season of the program. Nchukwi (6-2) has alternated wins and losses since his debut, most recently losing by third-round knockout to Azamat Murzakanov at UFC Vegas 50 in March.

Ulberg (4-1) is a highly touted New Zealand native competing out of the country’s famed City Kickboxing gym. He lost by knockout to Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 259, but scored his first UFC victory with a unanimous decision win over Fabio Cherant this past February.

The bout was first reported by MMA Junkie.

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