Gerald Meerschaert Disrespected By UFC’s Plans For Khamzat Chimaev
Gerald Meerschaert and Khamzat Chimaev are expected to meet next weekend at UFC Vegas 11.
The UFC has already announced that Chimaev will face Demian Maia on Fight Island with a victory over Meerschaert. Meerschaert feels disrespected by the fact that the promotion went public with those plans.
“Yeah, I keep saying it every time someone asks me. I find it disrespectful. I find it disrespectful that the promotion thinks that they can just line this up and put out there in public. And I think it’s disrespectful that Chimaev, like completely OK with, like, ‘Oh yeah, line this guy up, I’ll beat him, I don’t got to cut a lot of weight and then I’ll go fight somebody else,’” Meerschaert said on The Bash podcast (via Milan Ordonez of Bloody Elbow).
Meerschaert isn’t exactly an easy fight for Chimaev or any UFC fighter, who holds a 6-5-0 record in the promotion and an overall record of 31-13-0. One thing Meerschaert believes is that his technique and submission game will provide a challenge for Chimaev.
“And now you’re gonna fight a middleweight who’s gonna be bigger, stronger, and my technique’s going to be way better in the grappling department. So to think that you can start setting up fights afterward against a guy (Maia) who, by the way, I’m tied with for most submissions in the middleweight division. If it’s not disrespectful then I don’t know what is,” says Meerschaert.
UFC Vegas 11 takes place on Saturday, September 19 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada with Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, while broadcast plans have yet to be revealed.
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