Gerald Meerschaert etched his identify 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 web 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 essentially the most finishes in UFC middleweight historical past. It’s a notable accomplishment, little doubt, 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 a substitute, Meerschaert insists he nonetheless has numerous work left to do, which implies the document 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 sort of one battle at a time, and I want I might offer you greater than that as a result of it’s a cool factor. Honestly, if I sit right here and cease and provides myself somewhat pat on the again, like, that’s superior — simply to have my identify in the identical dialog or sentence as any individual like Anderson Silva or Demian Maia and guys like that, that’s nice — however I received numerous battle left in me, I’ve received much more fights to go.
“After I dangle them up, that will probably 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 once I’m retired, it will likely be enjoyable to inform my children and watch them not care.”
After all, Meerschaert didn’t break Silva’s document 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 in a position to intestine by way of a troublesome 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 making an attempt not to try this, however you get right into a fist battle, that’s sort of what occurs.,” Meerschaert mentioned with fun. “Edmen did an excellent job on the ft. He had excellent distance administration. He had some good clear energy photographs down the center. He caught me with a extremely good physique shot that, simply the best way it landed, the motion on it on the finish it sort of landed on a bizarre spot.
“I’ve received a fairly robust abdomen, like normally physique photographs don’t do something, however the best way and the time he caught me, that basically sucked and that sort of began the little sequence of him beating me concerning the head and shoulders. However so long as I’m awake, I’ve received an opportunity to win. I just about blocked all the things and needed to climate the storm somewhat bit and located my means 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 furry conditions within the first place, Meerschaert is aware of by way of loads of expertise that he has what it takes to soak up a complete lot of punishment and nonetheless storm again for the win.
“I do know if I’m nonetheless awake, there’s a means for me to win,” Meerschaert mentioned. “You’ve received to place me six ft below earlier than I’m going to cease preventing. Whether or not it’s on the ft swinging again, if I’ve received an opportunity on the bottom, my chances are high nearly as good as anyone on the mat.
Between the brand new promotional document he set and the bonus he’s taking dwelling, Meerschaert had a fairly profitable night time at UFC Vegas 96. It will not be the best way he wished to win, however Meerschaert acknowledges that sturdiness and a never-say-die perspective are attributes that separate him from a lot of his competitors.
“A clear victory like my final battle could be a significantly better instance of that, however I fought a extremely robust man,” Meerschaert mentioned. “He’s been ranked earlier than and he’s received some actually good wins.
“I feel in the event you’re going to go battle any individual, like, yeah, it’s scary to go battle any individual who’s a knockout artist or a man that’s tremendous robust or has countless cardio and all these items, however I feel you ought to be actually petrified of a man that’s not going to give up and that’s not going to go away simply since you land a few photographs.”
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