Consummate veteran Gerald Meerschaert was the opponent for 26-year old Joe Pyfer’s sophomore effort in the UFC.
Meerschaert has built an impressive career for himself as he had his fiftieth pro fight and his tenth UFC win in his last fight as he dropped and choked out the hard hitting Bruno Silva. GM3 was an underdog in that fight and he once again was against Pyfer, who grew somewhat of a name for himself after Dana White famously said, “Be Joe Pyfer,” in reference to him going all-out for the finish in his fighter on the Contender Series when no one else did that week. Pyfer then also got a finish in his UFC debut, but Meerschaert represented a big step up for only his second UFC fight.
Meerschaert came out southpaw as always and was pressed slowly back by Pyfer as they felt each other out in Saturday’s contest, both missing with early head kicks. The start of the fight was relatively low volume; neither man landed much significant until a massive right hand from Pyfer landed halfway through the first round, but GM3 ate it and stayed present.
The volume picked up slightly after that and during an exchange in the pocket Pyfer was able to land a left hook and right hand combo that that dropped Meerschaert. Meerschaert turtled up on the floor and just waited for the bout to be stopped by Mark Goddard. Which probably took a good bit longer than it needed to.
This win is the biggest of Joe Pyfer’s career by far, against a man who has fought such fighters as Khamzat Chimaev, Thiago Santos, and Jack Hermansson. If Pyfer can continue this way he could find his name stacks up well against those one day.
Pure inspiration from @joe_pyfer96 👏 #UFC287 pic.twitter.com/sUtema9cLB
— UFC (@ufc) April 9, 2023
Official Result: Joe Pyfer def. Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (ground and pound), Round 1, 3:15
