Brad Tavares used his striking and takedown defense to get the better of Gerald Meerschaert on the scorecards tonight at UFC on ESPN 65.
Round One
Jab for Tavares. Meerschaert lunges into a punch of his own. Tavares lands a punch as Meerschaert comes forward. Another solid punch for Tavares.
Meerschaert closes the distance and presses Tavares into the cage. Tavares able to escape and go back to the center of the cage.
Tavares presses forward with straight punches. Tavares lands a punch and Meerschaert drives into a takedown, but it’s defended.
Back to striking. Solid one-two for Tavares. Good right hand from Tavares. Meerschaert tries to press forward with punches, but Tavares lands instead over the top.
Inside leg kick from Meerschaert. Brief lull in the action and then another inside leg kick from him. Hook and a straight from Tavares. He lands again and a kick too.
Body kick for Tavares, but Meerschaert catches it and then fires off a head kick that’s blocked. Inside leg kick for Tavares. Spinning backfist from Tavares misses.
Round Two
Double jab from Tavares. Now a hard right hand. He goes for a head kick that whistles over the top of his opponents head.
Another strike and Meerschaert briefly drops to the mat then gets back up. Jabs from Meeschaert. He darts forward and presses Tavares into the clinch against the cage.
Tavares breaks free and then lands a 1-2. Meerschaert comes forward behind a couple of punches. Brief clinch and a right hook from Tavares. Front kick upstairs from Jab for Tavares. Meerschaert lunges into a punch of his own. Tavares lands a punch as Meerschaert comes forward. Another solid punch for Tavares.
Meerschaert closes the distance and presses Tavares into the cage. Tavares able to escape and go back to the center of the cage.
Tavares presses forward with straight punches. Tavares lands a punch and Meerschaert drives into a takedown, but it’s defended.
Back to striking. Solid one-two for Tavares. Good right hand from Tavares. Meerschaert tries to press forward with punches, but Tavares lands instead over the top.
Inside leg kick from Meerschaert. Brief lull in the action and then another inside leg kick from him. Hook and a straight from Tavares. He lands again and a kick too.
Body kick for Tavares, but Meerschaert catches it and then fires off a head kick that’s blocked. Inside leg kick for Tavares. Spinning backfist from Tavares misses.
Round Two
Double jab from Tavares. Now a hard right hand. He goes for a head kick that whistles over the top of his opponents head.
Another strike and Meerschaert briefly drops to the mat then gets back up. Jabs from Meeschaert. He darts forward and presses Tavares into the clinch against the cage.
Tavares breaks free and then lands a 1-2. Meerschaert comes forward behind a couple of punches. Brief clinch and a right hook from Tavares. Front kick upstairs from Jab for Tavares. Meerschaert lunges into a punch of his own. Tavares lands a punch as Meerschaert comes forward. Another solid punch for Tavares.
Meerschaert closes the distance and presses Tavares into the cage. Tavares able to escape and go back to the center of the cage.
Tavares presses forward with straight punches. Tavares lands a punch and Meerschaert drives into a takedown, but it’s defended.
Back to striking. Solid one-two for Tavares. Good right hand from Tavares. Meerschaert tries to press forward with punches, but Tavares lands instead over the top.
Inside leg kick from Meerschaert. Brief lull in the action and then another inside leg kick from him. Hook and a straight from Tavares. He lands again and a kick too.
Body kick for Tavares, but Meerschaert catches it and then fires off a head kick that’s blocked. Inside leg kick for Tavares. Spinning backfist from Tavares misses.
Round Two
Double jab from Tavares. Now a hard right hand. He goes for a head kick that whistles over the top of his opponents head.
Another strike and Meerschaert briefly drops to the mat then gets back up. Jabs from Meeschaert. He darts forward and presses Tavares into the clinch against the cage.
Tavares breaks free and then lands a 1-2. Meerschaert comes forward behind a couple of punches. Brief clinch and a right hook from Tavares. Front kick upstairs from Jab for Tavares. Meerschaert lunges into a punch of his own. Tavares lands a punch as Meerschaert comes forward. Another solid punch for Tavares.
Meerschaert closes the distance and presses Tavares into the cage. Tavares able to escape and go back to the center of the cage.
Tavares presses forward with straight punches. Tavares lands a punch and Meerschaert drives into a takedown, but it’s defended.
Back to striking. Solid one-two for Tavares. Good right hand from Tavares. Meerschaert tries to press forward with punches, but Tavares lands instead over the top.
Inside leg kick from Meerschaert. Brief lull in the action and then another inside leg kick from him. Hook and a straight from Tavares. He lands again and a kick too.
Body kick for Tavares, but Meerschaert catches it and then fires off a head kick that’s blocked. Inside leg kick for Tavares. Spinning backfist from Tavares misses.
Round Two
Double jab from Tavares. Now a hard right hand. He goes for a head kick that whistles over the top of his opponents head.
Another strike and Meerschaert briefly drops to the mat then gets back up. Jabs from Meeschaert. He darts forward and presses Tavares into the clinch against the cage.
Tavares breaks free and then lands a 1-2. Meerschaert comes forward behind a couple of punches. Brief clinch and a right hook from Tavares. Front kick upstairs from Meerschaert.
Meerschaert continuing to try to get something going as he pushes forward with punches and gets into the clinch. Nothing doing from there though and they break apart.
Meerschaert steps into a solid kick. Kick from Tavares is caught, but he does well to stay upright against a potential takedown threat and returns to striking.
Push kick from Tavares. Glancing right hand from him. Brief combo from Meerschaert. Solid one-two from Tavares sends Meerschaert back on his heels momentarily. He recovers quickly though.
Round Three
Low kick for Tavares. Short punches from Tavares to fend off a potential takedown entry from Meersschaert. Taveres presses forward but stumbles. Meerschaert lands a couple of nice body punches.
Meerschaert works for a takedown, but Tavares does well to stay on his feet. Meerschaert stays clinched up though and works around to the back against the cage. Meerschaert trying to kick Taveres’ leg out from under him without success.
Half the round remaining. Meerschaert gives up on the back, but stays in the clinch. He needs to get something going though as a finish is likely his only hope of emerging victorious. The action is stalling from here though and so the ref breaks them up.
A minute to go and back to striking range. Front kick to the body from Tavares. He lunges in with a punch. Meerschaert back into the clinch against the cage. Tavares able to break away.
Body kick from Meerschaert. He tries for a head kick that comes up short, and that’s the final action of the fight.
Decision
A solid striking display from Tavares in the first two rounds then left Meerschaert needing a finish in the third, but despite gaining some control time in the clinch he couldn’t muster up a serious offensive threat and Tavares emerges with a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
