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#4. Gerald Meerschaert – defeated Makhmud Muradov on the UFC Fight Night main card
While Gerald Meerschaert has far too many losses on his record to ever be considered a UFC title contender, he’ll likely always have a spot on the UFC roster due to his finishing ability.
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Coming into last night’s event, ‘GM3’ had seven UFC victories to his name, and not one of those fights had ever gone the distance. However, against spectacular striker Makhmud Muradov, Meerschaert looked outgunned.
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He was hurt badly by strikes in the first round, and a cynic would probably suggest that an apparently errant low blow was intentional – the only method he had of slowing Muradov down.
But ‘GM3’ is clearly a very tough fighter, and he weathered the early storm before roaring back in the second round, hurting Muradov with strikes of his own before submitting him with a textbook rear naked choke.
The win not only keeps Meerschaert afloat in the UFC, but it also marks his second win in a row following his submission of Bartosz Fabinski back in April, and more to the point, it also made him $50k richer.
#3. Bryan Battle and Ricky Turcios – won TUF 29 finals
It’s probably safe to say that winning a season of TUF in 2021 means a hell of a lot less than it did in 2005 or even 2010. In that sense, it’s unlikely that Bryan Battle and Ricky Turcios will ever repeat the feats of former TUF winners like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.
However, it’s still safe to call both men among the biggest winners from last night’s event. Neither man picked up an easy victory, as both had to fight through plenty of adversity on their way to their eventual triumphs.
Turcios’ clash with Brady Hiestand was probably the best fight on offer overall, as the two men flung heavy leather at one another from the word go. Hiestand actually grounded Turcios on a number of occasions, but for once, the judges awarded Turcios’ superior activity and heavier shots over the takedowns.
Battle, meanwhile, was badly hurt by late replacement Gilbert Urbina in the first round. On a different night, he’d have succumbed to a TKO loss. But despite bleeding heavily, he fought back in the second round to eventually choke Urbina out.
Quite how far both men can go in stacked UFC divisions – bantamweight and middleweight – is a question mark, but judging on last night, it’ll be fun to see them attempt to progress. That level of interest alone means they should be considered big winners from last night's UFC Fight Night.
