Chad Anheliger’s Edmonton return hinges on stopping Steven Koslow’s takedown cycle

Chad Anheliger’s return is finally set: a three-round bantamweight fight with Steven Koslow on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott on Oct. 17 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Cageside Press reported that Anheliger spent his extended absence rehabilitating and strengthening an injured knee while continuing to train, spar and help teammates prepare for fights. He returns to the city where Cody Gibson handed him a unanimous-decision loss in November 2024.

The comeback narrative is straightforward. The matchup is not. Anheliger has gone 698 days without competing as of Oct. 1, while Koslow’s absence stands at 1,391 days. That creates uncertainty on both sides, but the known matchup points toward one decisive question: can Anheliger keep Koslow from repeatedly turning striking exchanges into takedown attempts?

Koslow’s one UFC fight established a clear mechanism, not a reliable baseline

Koslow’s UFC statistical record consists of one fight and three rounds, all from his December 2022 loss to Cameron Saaiman. Any broad conclusion about his current level would overstate the sample. What that appearance did show was a committed grappling approach.

Koslow landed five takedowns on nine attempts, recorded five minutes of control and tried one submission. Those totals produced rates of 5.28 takedowns and 1.1 submission attempts per 15 minutes. He landed only 11 significant strikes, absorbed them at a rate of 3.73 per minute and was stopped by third-round knockout or TKO.

That is enough to identify how he tried to win, but not enough to establish that he will fight the same way after nearly four years away. It also does not support treating his listed 0% takedown defence as a stable weakness. That number comes from a single bout.

The dimensions help Koslow at range. He is one inch taller and owns a 69-inch reach, 4.5 inches longer than Anheliger’s. Yet his lone UFC performance did not show a fighter building his offence around long-range striking. His output was low, and eight of his 11 significant strikes went to the head. If that underlying style remains intact, the reach advantage may matter more for initiating entries or managing the space between attempts than for winning a sustained kickboxing match.