Gerald Meerschaert will do everything in his power to get a rematch with Khamzat Chimaev.
The pair met in a highly-anticipated middleweight bout last month as many felt Meerschaert would be a true litmus test for the surging Chimaev. They even had some heated back-and-forth with each other during a pre-fight press conference as Meerschaert felt he was being overlooked by his opponent.
In the end, their contest only lasted 17 seconds as Chimaev delivered an emphatic first-round knockout to see his stock rise even further.
Meerschaert: Defeat Left A Bad Taste
Just over a month on from that knockout, Meerschaert revealed in a recent interview that he doesn’t like Chimaev.
And given his performance in the fight, he will do whatever it takes to meet “The Wolf” again down the line as he plans on inflicting pain on him.
“I genuinely don’t like that guy. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, just the way he carries himself,” Meerschaert told TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter. “He doesn’t, I don’t know, there’s something that I don’t like. I don’t think he likes me either. And I think part of the reason I don’t like him is because he was acting like I said something disrespectful towards him. I don’t know if it’s because people were interpreting what I said to him incorrectly or something.
“But the whole time I was like, I said he was good, I said I expected him to come forward and do all this other stuff. The only thing I said is that he was overlooking me and that he was going to face resistance and I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain on that — that’s 100 percent on me. I said something and I didn’t do it. And not only that, but me not liking the guy, that leaves a real bad taste in my mouth and I’m going to do whatever it takes as far as stringing wins together to get back at that guy. And if he wants to keep sitting up there and saying, ‘no one wants to fight me, no one wants to fight me.’ Well, eventually he’s going to run in that spot again, and I’m going to be sitting there waiting for him.
“… The first time, terrible circumstances. Definitely not looking my best, whatever, they’re all excuses, doesn’t matter. I got in there, I lost, it happens, but you really want to fight, you really need to stay busy, you want someone to get in there and come at you. Next time around, I’m going to get in there and it’s not going to be about setting up a game plan or being technical — it’s about inflicting pain. … The only thing I’m thinking about is driving my fist through his face.”
Meerschaert on Chimaev: “I’m going to do whatever it takes, as far as stringing wins together, to get back at that guy.”
Full interview with a very candid Gerald Meerschaert on this week’s TSN MMA Show: https://t.co/g60HENnPgA
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— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 30, 2020
In reality, a rematch between the duo doesn’t look likely.
With Chimaev now set to take on Leon Edwards in a welterweight bout, a potential win there could see him remain in title contention for the foreseeable future at both welterweight and middleweight
Unless Meerschaert — unranked in the top 15 of the middleweight division — goes on one heck of a winning run, it doesn’t look like we will see them collide again. Then again, who knows with how Chimaev likes to stay active.
