Tag: Gerald Meerschaert

Gerald Meerschaert expects ‘intense’ fight with Edmen Shahbazyan: ‘He’s not just going to shell up’

Gerald Meerschaert won’t rely on Edmen Shahbazyan slowing down in their fight.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag] won’t rely on [autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag] slowing down in their fight.

Meerschaert (36-17 MMA, 11-9 UFC) takes on Shahbazyan (13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 62 (ESPN/ESPN+) main card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Shahbazyan has been criticized in the past for his cardio, but Meerschaert expects him to bring the fight throughout.

“I know for a fact when the going gets tough, he’s going to fight back,” Meerschaert said at Wednesday’s media day. “He’s not just going to shell up. I know people have said his cardio gets suspect in the later rounds, but even then, it’s not one-way traffic.

“If I get in his face, he’s going to swing back. He does some decent work elbowing and throwing big knees off clinches. He’s tough. He’s matured as a fighter. I’m not going to be able to just shoot, take him down and choke him. He’s going in there to win, too.”

Meerschaert is no stranger to defying odds having upset the likes of Makhmud Muradov and Bruno Silva. He finds himself a +240 underdog according to Bet MGM against fellow finisher Shahbazyan.

“It’s a good fight. It’s a tough fight,” Meerschaert said. “Edmen’s got a good name. He’s been in the UFC a while already, and I think that’s a good fight for both of us. Whether it’s a quick fight or whether it takes to the third round, it’s going to be intense either way because neither of us are known for boring fights necessarily. So it’ll be exciting either way.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.

Nursulton Ruziboev wants Gerald Meerschaert next ‘to show that Uzbek fighters are not weak’

Nursulton Ruziboev wants to avenge Makhmud Muradov’s loss to Gerald Meerschaert.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – [autotag]Nursulton Ruziboev[/autotag] wants to avenge Makhmud Muradov’s loss to [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag].

Ruziboev (36-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) recorded his 10th straight first-round finish when he stopped Sedriques Dumas by TKO Saturday at UFC on ESPN 54.

He then proceeded to call out Meerschaert, who was responsible for handing Muradov his first octagon loss in an upset finish in August 2021. Ruziboev aims to get one back for his fellow Uzbek fighter.

“There’s only three Uzbek fighters in the UFC and one of them was beaten by Gerald Meerschaert, so I want to revenge that loss, and I want to show that Uzbek fighters are not weak,” Ruziboev told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter.

“I am training with (Andre) Petroski, I am training with Joe Pyfer, and those guys have been (in) there with him. I have them as sparring partners. I have them as books of knowledge that I can read before I go into that fight.”

Ruziboev’s finish didn’t come without controversy. The fight-ending sequence occurred after Dumas rushed into Ruziboev’s extended fingers, causing him to get poked in the eye. Dumas grabbed his eye while turning away, but couldn’t get referee Vitor Ribeiro to pause the fight, leading Ruziboev to rush in with punches.

Ruziboev disputes any controversy surrounding the finish.

“As far as I can remember, I got him with the uppercut first,” Ruziboev said. “Once I got him with the uppercut, he already went for his eye to show that his eye was hurting. Then, as I was distancing myself away from it, maybe there was some of sort of a slight thing, but it wasn’t something that I noticed. I know that I got him with the uppercut first, and that’s exactly when he went for his eye.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 54.

Gerald Meerschaert reacts to tying Anderson Silva’s record at UFC Fight Night 239

Gerald Meerschaert hasn’t held or fought for a UFC title – but he’s found a way to make his mark on the promotion’s record books.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag] hasn’t held a UFC title. He hasn’t fought for one, either. But he’s found a way to make his mark on the UFC record books.

Saturday at UFC Fight Night 239 at the UFC Apex, Meerschaert (35-17 MMA, 10-9 UFC) defeated [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag] (18-11 MMA, 9-9 UFC) by submission. The finish tied Anderson Silva’s all-time middleweight record at 11. He already held, but extended, the division’s all-time submission record.

“That’s pretty cool,” Meerschaert told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I’ve got the most submissions at middleweight. I think I would’ve bumped another spot all-time to like fourth or fifth or something of most submissions at any weight and then tying Anderson Silva, that’s awesome. And I still have all my wins by finish in the UFC. It’s over 10 wins and that’s pretty nuts.”

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Meerschaert has 52 professional fights with 19 in the UFC. Only seven of his fights have gone to the decision. He has 34 finishes, and has been finished 12 times, making him truly a “do or die” fighter.

“Pretty much,” Meerschaert said of that categorization. “If you watch my fights, that’s generally how it goes. It’s not just submissions, either. This is probably one of the few times that I went out there and just straight grappled somebody, put them in a bad spot, and choked them. Usually, we get in a standup battle, or I punch them in the face a lot first, which makes choking them a lot easier.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.

UFC Fight Night 239 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Ovince Saint Preux leads with $21,000

UFC Fight Night 239 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 239 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $189,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 239 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 239 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $4,000
vs. [autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Ovince Saint Preux[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Mike Davis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Chelsea Chandler[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josiane Nunes[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Jafel Filho[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Danny Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Cory McKenna[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Thiago Moises[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mitch Ramirez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charalampos Grigoriou[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2391 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,551,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $24,258,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.

UFC Fight Night 239 video: Gerald Meerschaert ties Anderson Silva’s record with slick submission

Anderson Silva was unseated as the UFC’s all-time middleweight finishes leader on Saturday – and Gerald Meerschaert was the man to do it.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag] tied one of the longest standing records in the UFC on Saturday when he choked [autotag]Bryan Barberena[/autotag] unconscious at UFC Fight Night 239.

Meerschaert (36-17 MMA, 11-9 UFC) notched his 11th finish in UFC middleweight competition and matched Anderson Silva’s all-time divisional finishes record at the UFC Apex. After putting a grappling pace on Barberena (18-12 MMA, 9-10 UFC), he locked in a rear-naked choke/neck crank that put the lights out at the 4:23 mark of Round 3.

Check out a replay of the historic outcome below (via X):

Meerschaert, 36, played it cool in the aftermath of the fight. The longtime veteran told Michael Bisping he made the fight “easy” on himself this time around compared to previous fights, and he intends to relax after joining a legendary figure in the record books.

“What’s next for me, Michael, is a beer and a nap,” Meerschaert told Bisping in his post-fight interview.

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Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 2389 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 22-28)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 22-28.

Six new fights added to UFC Vegas 88

Six fights including multiple double-digit UFC veterans have been added to the March 16 event in Las Vegas.

Six more fights have been added to the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for March 16 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Five of the six bouts were officially announced Tuesday by the promotion, while the six was revealed on social media by the fighters involved.

The event is currently headlined by a heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) and Marcin Tybura (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC). Light heavyweights Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Ovince Saint Preux (26-17 MMA, 14-12 UFC) will also fight each other on the card.

UFC 292 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: All-time program total passes $20 million

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.

BOSTON – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 292 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $340.500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 292 took place at TD Garden. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 292 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $42,000

[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag]: $21,00

[autotag]Mario Bautista[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Gregory Rodrigues[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Kurt Holobaugh[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Austin Hubbard[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Brad Katona[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Cody Gibson[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Andrea Lee[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Maryna Moroz[/autotag]: $11,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $5,735,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $20,324,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.

UFC 292 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play from UFC 292 in Boston with Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley and Zhang Weili vs. Amanda Lemos title fights.

BOSTON – UFC 292 took place at TD Garden. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

In the main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) took on challenger Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Sterling holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses at 135 pounds. In the co-feature, women’s strawweight champ Zhang Weili (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) met challenger Amanda Lemos (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in the first test of her second reign as titleholder.

In addition, former middleweight champ Chris Weidman (15-7 MMA, 11-7 UFC) returned from more than two years out after a severe broken leg in 2021. He took on Brad Tavares (20-9 MMA, 15-8 UFC) in a featured bout on the prelims. Plus, two new “Ultimate Fighter” winners will be crowned on the prelims.

Andre Petroski def. Gerald Meerschaert at UFC 292: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Andre Petroski’s split decision win over Gerald Meerschaert at UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Andre Petroski[/autotag]’s split decision win over [autotag]Gerald Meerschaert[/autotag] at UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston. (Photos by Bob DeChiara, USA TODAY Sports; MMA Junkie; and UFC)