LAS VEGAS – When you think of the UFC middleweight division, you think of Anderson Silva. Why? Because the former longtime champion was the ultimate finisher during his Hall of Fame career.
Suffice to say, any fighter who breaks one of Silva’s records, those are bragging rights of the highest order. And yet for [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag], it’s no big deal – at least for now.
Meerschaert, a 36-year-old UFC veteran since 2016, made promotional history Saturday night as he submitted Edmen Shahbazyan in the second round at UFC on ESPN 62 in Las Vegas, surpassing Silva for most finishes in UFC middleweight history with 12.
“It’s cool to say. You know what I mean? I don’t think about it much right now. It’s just kind of one fight at a time,” Meerschaert told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after his win at the UFC Apex. “I wish I could give you more than that, because it is a cool thing. Truthfully, if I sit here and stop to give myself a little pat on the back, that’s awesome just to have my name in the same conversation or sentence as somebody like Anderson Silva or Demian Maia. That’s great, but I’ve got a lot of fight left in me. I’ve got a lot more fights to go. When I hang them up, though, that’ll be a cool thing to throw around. …
“It’s a cool thing to say for now and then when I’m retired it’ll be fun to tell my kids and watch them not care.”
Meerschaert (37-17 MMA, 12-9 UFC) had to survive nearly being finished in the second round after Shahbazyan dropped him and pounced with dozens of punches to the head, many of them blocked by his arms. It was a dangerous sequence, but Meerschaert said he kept thinking it was great for him as he expected Shahbazyan to tire himself out. Sure enough, that’s what happened, which led Meerschaert locking in an arm-triangle choke for the finish at 4:12 of Round 2.
Was the finish how Meerschaert drew it up? Absolutely not.
“I’ve had cleaner performances. But what fun is it if you don’t get punched in the face a few times, right?” Meerschaert said, before adding. “As long as I’m awake, I’ve got a chance to win. I pretty much blocked everything and just had to weather the storm a little bit, found my way out. …
“I know if I’m still awake, there’s a way for me to win. You’ve got to put me 6 feet under before I’m gonna stop fighting.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.