Gerald Meerschaert Announces Retirement After Loss to Julius Walker
Gerald Meerschaert told the crowd he was done after losing to Julius Walker on Saturday night. The 38-year-old ended a 60-fight professional career in the cage at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Walker stopped him by TKO with ground-and-pound at 3:35 of the second round on the UFC Fight Night card headlined by Allen versus Duncan. Meerschaert had moved up to light heavyweight for the bout after five straight middleweight losses. The stoppage made it six in a row and dropped him to 37-23.
He addressed the audience immediately afterward. “Yeah, I’ve had a good run, Michael,” Meerschaert said. “I’ve, you know, I set a couple records, I did some things.”
The move to 205 came up next. He suggested the jump might have come too late.
“Maybe 205, I should have done that a little bit earlier, but them boys are big up there, you know what I mean?” he said. “So, can’t fight forever.”
Meerschaert joined the UFC in December 2016 and went 12-15 across 27 appearances. He is a former RFA middleweight champion who built a reputation as a durable, submission-heavy veteran willing to take tough matchups. Names on his UFC ledger include Kevin Holland, Khamzat Chimaev, Joe Pyfer, and Reinier de Ridder. The final six losses erased the recent winning stretches that once kept him on the roster.
He pointed to life outside the cage as the reason the run was ending.
“I’ve got some good opportunities to make money for my family and make a good living, and man, I had a hell of a time out here performing for you guys,” Meerschaert said. “I can’t think of a better job. I’m gonna miss ya.”
The decision arrives after a long stretch of serviceable middleweight work. For years he was one of the more reliable names the promotion could book on short notice or in difficult spots. That role became harder to sustain once the losses stacked up and the size difference at light heavyweight became obvious against a younger opponent.
Walker, 11 years younger, improved to 8-3 with the win. He entered on a two-fight skid of his own but controlled the action and finished with punches on the ground. The result closed the preliminary portion of the card and gave Meerschaert the moment to strip off the gloves and speak.
Sixty professional fights is an unusually long career in modern MMA. Meerschaert started in 2007, spent nearly a decade in the UFC, and collected the majority of his wins by submission.
The final stretch, however, showed the cost of that volume. At 38, with family opportunities available, he chose to step away rather than chase another comeback at a higher weight class.
The interview did not include a formal written statement or a list of future plans beyond the money opportunities he mentioned. What it did include was a clear exit.
He thanked the fans, acknowledged the records he set, and left the octagon as a retired fighter. The next chapter, whatever it is, will not include another walkout under the UFC lights.
