Middleweights Ian Heinisch, Omari Akhmedov booked for UFC 245

A 185-pound bout is on tap for the UFC’s final pay-per-view of 2019.

At UFC 245, middleweights Ian Heinisch (13-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Omari Akhmedov (19-4-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) will square off on the preliminary card.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after the pairing was added to ESPN.com. The person asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

UFC 245 takes place Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

Heinisch, 31, will look to rebound from his first UFC loss. At UFC 241 in August, Heinisch lost a three-round unanimous decision to Derek Brunson. The former LFA middleweight champion was scheduled to fight against Brad Tavares at UFC on ESPN+ 20 in early October in Singapore, but the bout was scrapped when Tavares was moved to UFC 244.

Russia’s Akhmedov is in the midst of one of the best runs of his professional career. With four wins, no losses, and one no contest in his most recent five fights, Akhmedov will look to continue his winning ways. In his most recent performance at UFC 242 in September, Akhmedov defeated Zak Cummings by unanimous decision.

The latest UFC 245 card now includes:

Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for featherweight title
Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie – for women’s bantamweight title
Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Moraes
Urijah Faber vs. Petr Yan
Matt Brown vs. Ben Saunders
Jessica Eye vs. Viviane Araujo
Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Moreno
Oskar Piechota vs. Punahele Soriano
Geoff Neal vs. Mike Perry
Omari Akhmedov vs. Ian Heinisch