Las Vegas – UFC middleweight Gerald Meerschaert welcomes former double-champ Reinier de Ridder to the promotion at UFC Vegas 100 on Saturday night.
Many wonder why someone who is such a veteran of the UFC gets the newcomer, but ‘GM3’ sees it as a positive.
“I think it’s a good thing. I think a lot more people know about de Ridder than maybe some of the people that only follow UFC give him credit for,” Meerschaert told reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s tough. He had a lot of belts in ONE FC. That’s nothing to shake your head at.”
Meerschaert (37-17) sees the matchup against de Ridder as something of a feather in his cap. Not to mention he’s looking to spoil the party for the new guy.
“It’s fun to be the one to welcome somebody who was a double champ in a different organization. It says a lot about me if I can go out there and get that finish on Saturday,” he said.
Meerschaer has plenty of respect for his opponent going into Saturday night. Being a grappler himself GM3 appreciates de Ridder’s ground game.
“He’s a very, very good grappler. Specially like straight jiu-jitsu style grappling I think he’s one of the last guys that like really goes out there and implements that in his game plan. He’s more in the style of like a Gunnar Nelson or a Damian Maia,” he said.
“I think he’s just as dangerous as either of those guys. He’s got a very long build. He’s very good at getting to the sub. He’s definitely a game opponent.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Gerald Meerschaert above. He takes on Reinier de Ridder at UFC Vegas 100 on Saturday night.
