Report: Kamaru Usman and Emil Meek slated for welterweight clash at UFC 219

The good news for Kamaru Usman is that he got a fight. The bad news is that it’s not the ranked foe he wanted.

Instead, Usman is now set to meet fellow welterweight Emil Meek (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC 219, which takes place Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The matchup was reported by Farah Hannoun on Twitter – to which Meek responded with a tweet of his own.

After making quick work of Sergio Moraes at UFC Fight Night 117 to earn a 10th straight win – six of them in the UFC – Usman spoke about his difficulties getting matched up within the upper echelon of the 170-pound division. It’s a problem that he attributed to his belief “that they’re smart enough to know that they have no chance.”

Usman currently is the No. 11 fighter in both the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings and the official UFC rankings.

The unranked Meek is only one fight into his UFC stint. He picked up a unanimous decision over Jordan Mein at UFC 206 in December 2016. The 29-year-old fighter had been scheduled to meet Nordine Taleb in Sweden back in May, but had to withdraw due to injury.

Meek stamped his octagon ticket with a quick knockout win over UFC vet Rousimar Palhares at Venator. He’s only lost twice in his MMA career.

With the addition, the UFC 219 lineup now includes:

• Dominick Cruz vs. Jimmie Rivera
• Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
• Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
• Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
• Khalil Rountree vs. Gokhan Saki
• Myles Jury vs. Rick Glenn
• Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman

For more on UFC 219, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.