Gerald Meerschaert moves to light heavyweight, fights Ed Herman at UFC event on Aug. 1

Gerald Meerschaert is moving up.

Usually a middleweight competitor, Meerschaert (31-13 MMA, 6-5 UFC) will make the climb to light heavyweight when he takes on Ed Herman at the UFC’s Aug. 1 event. The card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The promotion announced the full lineup in a press release Thursday.

Meerschaert will look to rebound after a quick knockout loss to Ian Heinisch at UFC 250 on June 6. In his six most recent fights, Meerschaert went 2-4 with two submission wins against Deron Winn and Trevin Giles.

Herman (25-14 MMA, 12-11 UFC) is one of the longest-tenured fighters on the UFC roster and has rejuvenated his career through recent performances. After losing four of five fights from 2015-2018, Herman won back-to-back fights in 2019 against Patrick Cummins and Khadis Ibragimov.

With the change, the UFC’s Aug. 1 lineup includes:

• Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
• Randy Brown vs. Vicente Luque
• Trevin Giles vs. Kevin Holland
• Ed Herman vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Joanne Calderwood vs. Jennifer Maia
• Bobby Green vs. Landon Vannata
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Frankie Saenz
• Ray Borg vs. Nathan Maness
• Chris Gutierrez vs. Luke Sanders
• Markus Perez vs. Eric Spicely
• Jamall Emmers vs. Timur Valiev