Gerald Meerschaert broke an impressive UFC record with his submission win over Bartosz Fabinski at UFC Vegas 24

Gerald Meerschaert broke an impressive UFC record with his submission win over Bartosz Fabinski at UFC Vegas 24.

The veteran UFC middleweight fighter has etched his name in the history books amongst the very elite in his weight class. Gerald Meerschaert now holds the record for the most submissions in UFC middleweight history with six.

Meerschaert now has the most submission wins (six) at 185 pounds, having surpassed the likes of Demian Maia, Thales Leite, Rousimar Palhares and Antonio Carlos Jr.

The UFC put forth a tweet acknowledging Meerschaert’s accomplishment. Besides, Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports also confirmed that Meerschaert has indeed broken the UFC record.

Locked in TIGHT 😳@The_Real_GM3 gets the job done quickly! #UFCVegas24 pic.twitter.com/SQrbZlPMXC

— UFC (@ufc) April 18, 2021

Middleweight submission king 👑@The_Real_GM3 stands alone at 185 with 6 subs! #UFCVegas24 pic.twitter.com/f9VPlxy80k

— UFC (@ufc) April 18, 2021

Meerschaert now becomes the record holder for the most submissions in middleweight history with 6, surpassing Demian Maia, Thales Leites, Rousimar Palhares and Antonio Carlos Jr.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 18, 2021

Gerald Meerschaert was on a two-fight losing streak as he entered his UFC Vegas 24 (April 17th, 2021) fight against Bartosz Fabinski. Meerschaert’s last fight was a 17-second KO loss against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley (September 2020).

Bartosz Fabinski, too, was coming off a defeat. Fabinski’s last fight was a first-round submission loss against Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai (September 2020).

Needless to say, the UFC Vegas 24 middleweight matchup between Gerald Meerschaert and Bartosz Fabinski was pivotal for both fighters’ respective MMA careers. A loss in the fight would prove to be detrimental, whereas a win would help the victor move up the shark tank that is the UFC middleweight division.

And just as his back was against the proverbial wall, Gerald Meerschaert reminded the MMA community of his veteran craftiness and grappling prowess. Meerschaert locked in a beautiful guillotine choke on Bartosz Fabinski, securing a technical submission stoppage victory at the 2:00-minute mark of the very first round.

Gerald Meerschaert shines at UFC Vegas 24, a card headlined by top-tier middleweight contenders

Robert Whittaker (left); Kelvin Gastelum (right)

Gerald Meerschaert made a huge statement at UFC Vegas 24, but he still has a long way to go before he’s accorded a shot at UFC middleweight gold. Meanwhile, a couple of other UFC middleweight stars are on the cusp of securing the opportunity to fight for the UFC middleweight title.

As of this writing, we’re just hours away from the highly anticipated UFC middleweight matchup between the division’s former champion Robert Whittaker and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight tournament winner Kelvin Gastelum.

Robert Whittaker will be fighting Kelvin Gastelum in a five-round middleweight bout that will serve as the headlining matchup of the UFC Vegas 24 fight card. The winner of this fight could be next in line to face UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for the title.