Gerald Meerschaert etched his title within the UFC historical past books on Saturday by submitting Edmen Shahbazyan with a nasty arm-triangle choke to earn his twelfth end within the octagon.
Not solely did the come-from-behind win internet Meerschaert a $50,000 Efficiency of the Night time bonus, his fight-ending submission additionally put him one spot forward of UFC legend Anderson Silva for probably the most finishes in UFC middleweight historical past. It’s a notable accomplishment, little question, however as a result of he’s nonetheless actively competing proper now, Meerschaert admits he’s not sitting round ready for the possibility to shine a plaque for his wall at dwelling.
As an alternative, Meerschaert insists he nonetheless has plenty of work left to do, which suggests the file he simply set will solely find yourself prolonged even additional into the stratosphere with extra UFC wins.
“It’s cool to say,” Meerschaert mentioned after UFC Vegas 96. “I don’t give it some thought an excessive amount of proper now. It’s simply form of one struggle at a time, and I want I may provide you with greater than that as a result of it’s a cool factor. In truth, if I sit right here and cease and provides myself a bit pat on the again, like, that’s superior — simply to have my title in the identical dialog or sentence as someone like Anderson Silva or Demian Maia and guys like that, that’s nice — however I received plenty of struggle left in me, I’ve received much more fights to go.
“After I dangle them up, that can be a cool factor to throw round, like, ‘I used to be cool again within the day. I received a T-top Firebird.’ It’s a cool factor to say for now, after which after I’m retired, it is going to be enjoyable to inform my youngsters and watch them not care.”
After all, Meerschaert didn’t break Silva’s file with out dealing with some critical adversity.
Previous to his submission win, Meerschaert discovered himself in nice hazard after getting blasted with a shot that dropped him to the canvas and prompted Shabazyan to rain down punches on him in hopes for a end. But, as he does, Meerschaert was capable of intestine by a tough scenario earlier than staging an awe-inspiring comeback to grab the fight-ending sequence.
In an ideal world, Meerschaert prefers a dominant win just like the submission he used to beat Bryan Barberena in March, however he’ll by no means complain an excessive amount of when his hand will get raised.
“You imply getting punched within the head and face a bunch of occasions? I’m attempting not to do this, however you get right into a fist struggle, that’s form of what occurs.,” Meerschaert mentioned with fun. “Edmen did an excellent job on the toes. He had excellent distance administration. He had some good clear energy pictures down the center. He caught me with a extremely good physique shot that, simply the way in which it landed, the motion on it on the finish it form of landed on a bizarre spot.
“I’ve received a reasonably powerful abdomen, like normally physique pictures don’t do something, however the way in which and the time he caught me, that basically sucked and that form of began the little sequence of him beating me in regards to the head and shoulders. However so long as I’m awake, I’ve received an opportunity to win. I just about blocked every part and needed to climate the storm a bit bit and located my manner out.”
Meerschaert credited referee Mark Smith for giving him each alternative to outlive the onslaught earlier than storming again to get the submission on Shahbazyan.
As a lot as he needs he wouldn’t find yourself in these sorts of bushy conditions within the first place, Meerschaert is aware of by loads of expertise that he has what it takes to soak up an entire lot of punishment and nonetheless storm again for the win.
“I do know if I’m nonetheless awake, there’s a manner for me to win,” Meerschaert mentioned. “You’ve received to place me six toes underneath earlier than I’m going to cease combating. Whether or not it’s on the toes swinging again, if I’ve received an opportunity on the bottom, my chances are high pretty much as good as anyone on the mat.
Between the brand new promotional file he set and the bonus he’s taking dwelling, Meerschaert had a reasonably profitable evening at UFC Vegas 96. It will not be the way in which he wished to win, however Meerschaert acknowledges that sturdiness and a never-say-die angle are attributes that separate him from a lot of his competitors.
“A clear victory like my final struggle can be a a lot better instance of that, however I fought a extremely powerful man,” Meerschaert mentioned. “He’s been ranked earlier than and he’s received some actually good wins.
“I believe in case you’re going to go struggle someone, like, yeah, it’s scary to go struggle someone who’s a knockout artist or a man that’s tremendous sturdy or has countless cardio and all these items, however I believe you need to be actually terrified of a man that’s not going to give up and that’s not going to go away simply since you land a few pictures.”
