Gerald Meerschaert welcomes Abusupiyan Magomedov to the octagon at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 18

Gerald Meerschaert is not one to shy away from a challenge.

Meerschaert (33-14 MMA, 8-6 UFC) takes on middleweight octagon newcomer Abusupiyan Magomedov (21-4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 18 in an event that doesn’t yet have an announced venue or location.

A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. UFD Sports Management was first to report the news.

Coming off back-to-back “Performance of the Night” bonuses and fresh off a big upset finish of Makhmud Muradov in August, Meerschaert will look to make it three straight for the first time in his UFC career when he welcomes Magomedov to the octagon.

Magomedov, a PFL finalist, fell short in his $1 million quest when he was stopped by Louis Taylor in the 2018 PFL final. He has only competed twice since then. He scored a 47-second kimura finish at EMC 3, followed by a second-round submission over then-unbeaten Cezary Kesik at KSW 57 in December 2020.

With the addition to the card, the Dec. 18 UFC event currently includes:

• Amanda Lemos vs. Nina Nunes
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Ricky Simon
• Jordan Leavitt vs. Matt Sayles
• Abus Magomedov vs. Gerald Meerschaert