Gerald Meerschaert will look to win his 8th straight fight on Saturday at UFC 213, as he takes on Thiago Santos in one of the four preliminary bouts on FS1. Meerschaert comes into this bout with a record of 26-8 and he is unbeaten in the UFC, with a record of 2-0. Santos is 14-5 in his career and has a lot more UFC experience, as he comes into this bout with a record of 6-4 in the UFC. The fight between Santos and Meerschaert is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a five-fight main card, which features Amanda Nunes taking on Valentina Shevchenko. Let’s look at Santos vs. Meerschaert and UFC picks.
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Thiago Santos (14-5, 6-4 UFC)
Santos is coming off a win against Jack Marshman in February of this year, as Santos won by second round TKO. That win broke a two-fight losing streak for Santos who was beaten by Gegard Mousasi and Eric Spicely last year.
Santos has won most of his fights by knockout, as he has excellent striking power and he also has very powerful kicks. Seven of his last eight wins have come by knockout. He will be looking to keep this fight off the mat against Meerschaert.
Gerald Meerschaert (26-8, 2-0 UFC)
Meerschaert is almost the exact opposite of Santos, as Meerschaert wins most of his fights by submission. He has not lost a fight since a defeat to Sam Alvey in 2014. Meerschaert almost always looks to get his fights to the mat, and 26 of his 34 fights have ended in a submission. Both of his UFC wins have been by submission, as he beat Joe Gigliotti late last year and Ryan James early this year.
Meerschaert said to MMAjunkie after his win against James that he is not in any hurry with his UFC career. “I’m 2-0, and I’m just looking to get out there, building up my highlight reel, get some fans, and move onto the next (fight).”
Despite his great submission success, Meerschaert said that he doesn’t always look to win on the mat. “I’m taking what they give me,” Meerschaert said. “Everyone sees the guillotines and rear-naked’s coming.” He said that he realizes that he has to pay his dues in the UFC. “I feel like I can beat anybody in the world, but I also believe in paying your dues and proving your worth,” Meerschaert said. “I want to be in the UFC as long as I can. I don’t want to rush anything. It did take me a long time to get here. I’m in no rush to get to the top 10 or the top five before I’m ready.”
UFC Picks
This is the classic striker vs. grappler matchup and the fight will likely be decided by whether or not Santos can avoid takedowns. Santos hasn’t been that great in avoiding takedowns in his career and he was submitted by Spicely last year. I think Meerschaert is better than Spicely and I think he can get the submission win against Santos in this fight, and we get Meerschaert at plus money.
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UFC 213 takes place on Saturday, July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the feature bout a matchup between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. There are five fights on the main card, which is pay-per-view, four prelims that will be shown on FS1 and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Valentina Shevchenko -115 vs. Amanda Nunes
Robert Whittaker -130 vs. Yoel Romero
Alistair Overeem -130 vs. Fabricio Werdum
Anthony Pettis -230 vs. Jim Miller
Curtis Blaydes -775 vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Travis Browne -205 vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk
Chad Laprise -529 vs. Brian Camozzi
Belal Muhammad -148 vs. Jordan Mein
Thiago Santos -163 vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Rob Font -320 vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
Trevin Giles -325 vs. James Bochnovic
Cody Stamann -275 vs. Terrion Ware
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