A veteran of 28 UFC fights left his gloves in the Octagon after suffering his six-straight loss at UFC Vegas 122.
Following last weekend’s UFC 332 card in Salt Lake City, the UFC returned home to Las Vegas and the Meta APEX this week for a UFC Fight Night event headlined by top-ranked middleweight contenders Brendan Allen and Christian Leroy Duncan.
Prior to the five-fight main card, the prelims for UFC Vegas 122 saw six out of seven fights end inside the distance and closed out with a light heavyweight bout between Julius Walker and Gerald Meerschaert.
Gerald Meerschaert Retires After Losing to Julius Walker at UFC Vegas 122
A member of the UFC roster since 2016, Meerschaert decided to move up from his natural middleweight division to compete at 205 lbs. after a loss to Jacob Malkoun in May extended his losing run to five fights.
That losing streak began in late 2024 after the 38-year-old secured back-to-back submissions against Edmen Shahbazyan and Bryan Barberena, which saw him surpass UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva for the most finishes in UFC middleweight history with 12.
More than a 2-1 underdog to Walker heading into UFC Vegas 122, Meerschaert was unable to mount any sort of major submission threat even after being repeatedly taken down by Walker and was ultimately stopped with ground strikes late in the second round.
The victory saw Walker snap a two-fight skid after being finished in his two previous outings this year, and even before the result was announced Meerschaert was already removing his gloves to signal the end of his fighting career.
“GM3” Competed in 60 Professional MMA Fights Over Nearly 20-Year Career
Already a veteran of 33 professional MMA fights by the time he made his UFC debut in 2016, Meerschaert immediately introduced himself to UFC fans in impressive fashion when he secured back-to-back first-round submissions in his first two Octagon outings.
Always a threat to end things via submission anytime an opponent chose to engage with him in close quarters, the 38-year-old’s best UFC win streak came when he submitted three-straight opponents in 2021 and earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses for two of those wins.
Meerschaert also shared the cage with a number of the middleweight division’s biggest names over his lengthy UFC run, including former UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev in 2020 and former ONE Championship star Reinier de Ridder in 2024.
A submission-loss to de Ridder ultimately kicked off the losing skid that Meerschaert ended his career on, as he also lost three-straight fights last year and was finished in the first round of two of those outings.
“GM3” retires from MMA with an overall record of 37-23, and he impressively secured 35 finishes across a nearly 20-year career where he only saw the judges’ scorecards a total of 10 times.
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