Gerald Meerschaert survived a second round ground-and-pound onslaught from Edmen Shahbazyan tonight at UFC On ESPN 62 and then fought his way to a submission victory.
Round One:
Inside leg kick for Meerschaert to start. Body punch for Shahbazyan. Body kick for Meerschaert was almost caught.
Right hand for Edmen. Another low kick for Meerschaert. Body kick for Shahbazyan. Now a punch behind it. One-two for Meerschaert.
Inside leg kick from Meerschaert. He goes in for a single-leg, but Edmen fights that one off.
Shahbazyan lands a body shot and then upstairs with a punch too. There’s a brief clinch and then an elbow from Edmen as they separate.
Left hand for Meerschaert. Body kick for Shahbazyan. Body kick for Meerschaert. Jab for Edmen. Now a head kick attempt that almost got through. He tries to go for it again but is blocked better this time.
Body kick for Meerschaert and Edmen tries to land a punch on the counter. Straight right for Shahbazyan graces the target.
Body kick for Edmen. Kick from Meerschaert lands to the groin and forces a stoppage to give him time to recover.
Back to it they get. Grazing left hook for Edmen and a righht following it. He’s closing the distance again now and firing off a few strikes. Meerschaert staying composed though. Shahbazyan with a final kick to the body.
Round Two:
Left hand for Meerschaert. He tries to clinch up, but Shahbazyan stops that attempt.
Meerschaert goes for a strike and then slips. He gets back up and tries for a takedown and doesn’t get it.
Hard punch to the body from Edmen and he clutches at his body in pain. Shahbazyan gets him to the mat and starts battering him with heavy punches and elbows.
Meerschaert eating a whole bunch of strikes here, but he’s still somehow surviving the onslaught in the center of the Octagon. Shahbazyan gets to full mount. Meerschaert brings him back to his guard though.
Half the round remaining and Shahbazyan takes a breather on top and then fearing he might be at risk of being submitted opts to stand back up.
Worrying moments for Shahbazyan here as he expended a lot of energy trying to get the finish and has had repeated issues with his cardio later on in fights in the past.
They clinch up. Back to striking range and Meerschaert lands punches. Now Shahbazyan with a good punch. Meerschaert drives in for a takedown and lands it fairly easily.
Meerschaert in half-guard then works for an arm-triangle choke and gets it in tight. Shahbazyan trying to hang on in there, but not for long as the squeeze gets too tight and he’s forced to tap out. Big comeback submission victory for Meerschaert at 4.12mins of the second round.
