Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Trevin Giles and Gerald Meerschaert faced each other in a Middleweight clash tonight (Sat., Aug. 3, 2019) inside Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., only on ESPN. At the end of a grappling-heavy fight, Meerschaert submitted his opponent with a guillotine choke in the third and final frame.
Meerschaert opened the bout with a nice low kick and counter punch. Giles bounced forward with a big right hand. A body lock from Giles folded Meerschaert to the mat. Giles controlled from side control briefly before Meerschaert swept him into mount! Very slowly, Meerschaert began hunting for the arm triangle choke. Giles kept his elbows tight, but Meerschaert maintained a very low mount and gave him little room to work. With 90 seconds remaining in the round, Giles was able to explode back into top position. Giles advanced into side control once more and threatened an anaconda choke briefly, but he did not land anything particularly significant before the bell.
The second round began with a body lock to single leg takedown transition from Meerschaert, but it was defended well. When it failed, Meerschaert pulled guard. Giles applied heavy pressure and advanced into mount, but almost immediately Meerschaert was able to roll into top position opposite the wrestler! Meerschaert landed a couple decent shots from within the guard. A big elbow snuck through for “GM3.” Really not a ton of damage done by Meerschaert, but he did control a majority of the second round.
With five minutes remaining, the fight was up for grabs. Meerschaert landed a hard body kick early. He then went high, but it was blocked. Meerschaert took a bad shot, which allowed Giles to hang on the head and take top position briefly. Instead, Meerschaert came up on a single leg in better position, allowing him to finish the takedown. For the first time, Meerschaert really committed to the guillotine choke. He nearly lost top position in the process, but Meerschaert continued to scramble and eventually put his opponent to sleep with the hold!
This was a really strange bout, almost a grappling match. Nonetheless, Meerschaert managed to convince another young, better athlete to grapple with him, and Giles paid the price for that decision.
Result: Gerald Meerschaert defeats Trevin Giles via third-round submission
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