Gerald Meerschaert recently discussed breaking Anderson Silva’s record following his victory over Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 96. Meerschaert expressed his joy at breaking the record, but he acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to be done as he seeks to put together a winning streak.
Meerschaert squared off against Shahbazyan in a middleweight bout this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 96. The event took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighters entered the fight with 2-3 in their last five bouts.
After being dominated from the start, Meerschaert shifted the momentum in his favor and defeated Shahbazyan in the second round with an arm-triangle choke.
With the win, Meerschaert broke a record that was previously held by Silva. ‘GM3’ (12) overtook the Brazilian (11) who had previously held the record for the most finishes in UFC middleweight history.
During the post-fight press conference, Meerschaert expressed his thoughts on breaking Silva’s record, saying:
”It’s cool to say, I don’t think about it too much right now. It’s just kind of one fight at a time, and I wish I could give you more than that because it is a cool thing. Truthfully, if I sit here and stop and give myself a little pat on the back, like, that’s awesome — just to have my name in the same conversation or sentence as somebody like Anderson Silva or Demian Maia and guys like that, that’s great — but I got a lot of fight left in me, I’ve got a lot more fights to go.”
In addition to breaking Silva’s record, Meerschaert also matched Damian Maia (11) for the third-most submissions in the promotion’s history, trailing behind Jim Miller (12) and Charles Oliveira (16). Belal Muhammad, Henry Cejudo, and Dricus du Plessis were among the many UFC fighters who praised the 36-year-old for his performance at UFC Vegas 96.
Gerald Meerschaert wants Paul Craig next
Gerald Meerschaert pulled off an incredible comeback victory at UFC Vegas 96 with a second-round submission win against Edmen Shahbazyan. With the win, Meerschaert now has the most no. of finishes in UFC middleweight history (12), surpassing UFC legend and Hall of Famer Anderson Silva (11).
Following the fight, Meerschaert spoke to Michael Bisping in his octagon interview and called out fellow veteran Paul Craig, saying:
”Paul Craig December 14th in Tampa, you and me let’s dance”
