Gerald Meerschaert

Meerschaert was born in Racine, Wisconsin, United States. He trained in Taekwondo when he was young. He plays alto saxophone and studied music education in college, hoping to become a music teacher, before deciding to make MMA his career after watching some local MMA and UFC fights on TV.

Early career

Meerschaert fought most of his fights in his native state of Wisconsin from 2007 to 2011 and started travelling to nearby states to compete after 2012. He is an active fighter with a record of 24-8-0 prior to joining UFC.

Meerschaert began his professional MMA career in March 2007, fighting at Freestyle Combat Challenge 26 on March 10 after training for just one month in MMA. He lost his first fight to Jay Ellis via a technical submissionTwo months after his first loss, he bounced back to snap a win via submission (kimura - reversed double wristlock). His third MMA fight came one week later on May 19, 2007 against Will Pace. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke on round one.

On January 12, 2008, Meerschaert face Kenneth Allen and steal the win by locking up a triangle choke on round one. Five weeks later, Meerschaert stepped in the cage and competed against Caleb Krull and won by unanimous decision with judges scored all three rounds (29-28, 29-28, 29-27). Without taking a break, Meerschaert was back to the cage again four weeks, and this time his challenger was Alex Carter. On the second round Meerschaert managed to set up a triangle choke and submitted Carter. His last fight in Freestyle Combat was on May 3, 2008, where Meerschaert picked up a win over Ryan Scheeper through an amrbar submission.

Meerschaert made a move and joined Madtown Throwdown promotion on July 25, 2008. His first promotion debut facing Mike Vaughn. Without much time wasted, Meerschaert managed to climb on Vaughn's back and pulled off a rear-naked choke and won the fight. Next, Meerschaert face Curtis Bailey. The fight was held in Madison, Wisconsin on Madtown Throwdown 17. The fight was a five rounds fight and Meerschaert suffered the lost on this fight via guillotine choke on round two.

After a busy year in 2009, Meerschaert did not set foot on the cage to compete until May 2, 2009. He fought Kenny Robertson on Madtown Throwdown 19 and lost via a kneebar submission on round one.

He started of by fighting on Gladiators Cage Fighting: Fair Warning on August 15, 2009 i His opponent was Jacob Kuester and Meerschaert managed to over power Kuester and submitted him via a neck crank. On the next fight, Meerschaert face off Morrison Lamb on Racine Fight Night 5 on November 28, 2009 in his hometown, Racine, Wisconsin. It was a short fight where Meerschaert submitted Lamb via a guillotine choke on round one.

Meershaert faced Eddie Larrea at Extreme Cagefigting Organisation 4 on March 20, 2010. Meershaert secured the win via a arm-triangle choke. April 17, 2010, Meershaert fought in Combat USA 19. Meershaert puched his way trhought and KO Jim Klimczyk and snatched the win.

His last competition in 2010 was on September 11. He took on Sam Alvey, with record of 11-1-0, ranking number 1 in Wisconsin in the middleweight division. They competed on Combat USA: Championship Tournament Finals for a five-round title middleweight fight. On the earlyy rounds, Meershaert attempted multiple takedowns but Alvey managed to stop the most of them; however, Meershaerf managed to put Alvey on a guillotine choke on round 5 and secured the win to reign Wisconsin State middleweight 2010 champion.

With the record of 14-4-0, Meershaert started off his 2011 competition on January 6, facing Dallas O'Malley on Combat USA 24. He won the fight via guillotine choke on round two.

The next fight came 3 months later where Meershaert took on Herbert Goodman, the former Green Bay Packers football player, defending his Wisconsin Middleweight title on Combat USA: Wisconsin State Finals. Meersheart lost the fight via rear-naked choke on round one when he was takendown by Goodman after failing to hit Goodman with his left overhand, giving his back to Goodman where Goodman managed to sink a rear-naked choke.

Six months later, Meershaert went on to join Rogue Warrior Championship 3 competition on the welterweight fight on September 6, 2011. He faced Eddie Larrea and won the fight via rear-naked choke on round one.

Meershaert did not return to the cage after the lost to Goodman until about one of the half year later when he went on to join Rogue Warrior Championship 3 competition on the welterweight fight on September 6, 2011. He faced Eddie Larrea and won the fight via rear-naked choke on round one. The second and also the last fight Meershaert take on for 2012 was on October 19. He was up against Sergej Juskevic at Score Fighting Series. He lost the fight on round two via kneebar submission.

On January 19, 2013 he took on Anthony Lapsley on a catchweight bout (175 Ib) on Rocktagon MMA Elite Series 23. He lost the fight on round one via rear-naked choke. He next faced Jay Ellis on King of the Cage: Certified on April 20, 2013 a catchweight bout (180 Ib). He bounced back from the last two defeat and captured the win with TKO (punches) in round one. Meershaert went to Duluth, Georgia to compete on National Fighting Championships 58 on July 19, 2013. The fight was a 180 Ib catchweight bout. The judges awarded him with the win after three battle against George Lockhart. On September 13, 2013, Meershaert fought with Nathan Gunn in another catchweight fight. He managed to submit Gunn on round two with a guillotine choke on Canadian Fighting Championship 8 event.

Meerschaert moved up to middleweight (185 Ibs) in 2014 and competed in North American Fighting Championship in two fights. First he faced Eddie Larrea which he secured a win via arm triangle choke and moved on to fight Sam Alvey on their second meet up and this time he lost by unanimous decision on judges score cards. His last fight in 2014 was in September where he fought in KOTC: Magnum Force against Matt Lagou. He came out with a win via a TKO (doctor stoppage).

Meerschaert aced Keith Smetana at 4BC: Capital City Punishment in June 2015 . He won a quick win via TKO in round one. His next and last fight in 2015 came one month later and won via another TKO (doctor stoppage) against Lucas Rota.

Meerschaert started his first fight in 2016 by moving up to Light Heavyweight division (205 Ibs). He fought at Valor Fight 36 and his opponent was Sidney Wheeler. He threatened Wheeler with a kimura and forced him to tap out on round one. His last fight before joining UFC was on October 2016, facing Chase Waldon in Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) in Middlegweight bout. He earned the victory via submission (arm-triangle choke) on round one, earning him the RFA middleweight title.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After 10 years of MMA career with 32 fights, Meerschaert was signed by UFC. He made his promotional debut on December 9, 2016 on UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov, replacing injured Olwale Bamgbose and facing Joe Gigliotti. Meerschaert finished Gigliotti with an anaconda choke in round one. His performance earned him a Performance of the Night bonus award.

Meerschaert second UFC fight was on February 19, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne against Ryan Janes. He won the fight via submission in the first round.

Meerschaert faced Thiago Santos on July 8, 2017 at UFC 213. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Meerschaert is expected to face Eric Spicely on December 1, 2017 at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale.

The moniker "The Machine" was coined by his friends after seeing him constantly pushing himself in the gym without really taking any breaks.

Meerschaert is an alto saxophone player. He currently competes in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Middleweight division.

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (one time) vs. Joe Gigliotti
• 'Resurrection Fighting Alliance' (RFA)
  • Middleweight Champion (one time) vs. Chase Waldon
• Combat USA Championship
  • Wisconsin State Middleweight Champion (one time) vs. Sam Alvey