Few squeeze more out of their natural ability than Gerald Meerschaert, a consummate underdog who has built a career on upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
The 35-year-old middleweight will look to improve upon a 10-7 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship when he toes the line against Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Joseph Pyfer as part of the UFC 287 undercard on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Meerschaert has rattled off four wins across his past five outings. He last competed at UFC on ESPN 41, where he submitted former M-1 Global champion Bruno Silva with a guillotine choke in the third round of their Aug. 13 confrontation.
As Meerschaert moves ever closer to his forthcoming clash with Pyfer at 185 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. Some might consider him the Kenny G of prizefighting.
Meerschaert was born on Dec. 18, 1987 in Racine, Wisconsin—a city of roughly 80,000 people situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, some 80 miles north of Chicago. An accomplished saxophone player, he pursued a career as a music teacher before turning to mixed martial arts.
2. A notable wart mars his resume.
“GM3” made his professional MMA debut at the age of 20 when he submitted Fernando Gomez with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their Jan. 13, 2007 pairing under the Freestyle Combat Challenge banner. Meerschaert won eight of his first 10 bouts but did lose to the notorious Jay Ellis, he of the 16-108 record.
3. Regional gold buoyed his case for a call-up.
Meerschaert captured the Resurrection Fighting Alliance middleweight championship at RFA 45, where he subdued Chase Waldon with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their October 2016 encounter. Turns out, it was a steppingstone. Meerschaert arrived in the UFC less than two months later.
4. He retains hired-gun status.
The 6-foot-1 Meerschaert has appeared in 18 different promotions across his 50-fight career. In addition to the UFC, his clients include the Titan Fighting Championship, King of the Cage, Valor Fights, North American Fighting Championship and Combat USA organizations. Despite all his travels, Meerschaert has never fought outside of North America.
5. He chooses his friends wisely.
A longtime member of the Roufusport academy, Meerschaert now operates out of the Kill Cliff Fight Club in Deerfield Beach, Florida. There, he trains under striking impresario Henri Hooft and three-time NCAA national wrestling champion Greg Jones. Kamaru Usman, Michael Chandler, Robbie Lawler and Shavkat Rakhmonov are among those who have called the camp home.
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