After Saturday’s fight, Gerald Meerschaert has retired from mixed martial arts after Julius Walker stopped him with ground strikes late in the second round of their light-heavyweight bout at UFC Vegas 122. The 38-year-old removed his gloves before the official result was announced, bringing an end to a UFC career that began in 2016 and a fighting career he said had started in 2007.
The defeat was Meerschaert’s sixth in a row. In his post-fight comments, he indicated that the time had come to stop competing, citing his age and opportunities to support his family away from the sport. He later said he expected to move into corporate work rather than remain involved in fighting.
Meerschaert told interviewer Michael Bisping in the cage that he had enjoyed his career and its achievements, while recognising that he could not continue indefinitely. At the post-fight press conference, he said the Walker defeat would probably be his last contest.
A final move to light-heavyweight
Meerschaert’s final appearance came at 205lb after he moved up from his usual middleweight division. Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout reported that he made the switch after losing to Jacob Malkoun in May, a defeat which extended his losing run to five fights at that point.
Walker repeatedly took Meerschaert down, and Meerschaert was unable to mount a major submission threat, according to the same report. Walker then finished the bout with strikes on the ground late in round two.
The outcome also changed the immediate picture for Walker. Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout reported that Walker had lost his previous two bouts, both by stoppage, so his win over Meerschaert ended that skid. For Meerschaert, the sixth consecutive defeat was followed by his retirement announcement after he had removed his gloves.
That sequence matters when assessing the decision. The retirement did not follow an isolated reversal after a long run of victories. Meerschaert entered UFC Vegas 122 on a five-fight losing streak; Walker’s second-round stoppage extended it to six before Meerschaert confirmed his intention to leave the sport.
Submission record gives retirement context
The reports also set out Meerschaert’s middleweight results before his move to light-heavyweight. MMA Insight reported that he held the record for 11 submission wins in middleweight history. Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout separately reported that he had surpassed Anderson Silva for the most finishes in UFC middleweight history, listing that total as 12.
MMA Insight credited him with 11 middleweight submission wins, while Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout reported 12 UFC middleweight finishes. These are two differently defined totals in the accounts of his career. His UFC results included three successive submission victories in 2021, with two of those performances earning bonuses, according to Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout.
The same report said Meerschaert had recorded back-to-back submissions against Edmen Shahbazyan and Bryan Barberena before the losing run began in late 2024. Its account placed a submission defeat to Reinier de Ridder in 2024 at the start of the sequence that eventually led to Saturday’s stoppage by Walker.
Meerschaert’s longevity is also clear from the numbers supplied by the reports. He said he had accumulated 60 professional fights, while Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout listed his final overall record as 37 wins and 23 defeats. Sports Illustrated MMA Knockout said he recorded 35 finishes across his career. It also said he had reached the judges’ scorecards 10 times across a career spanning almost 20 years.
Family and work shaped the decision
In explaining retirement, Meerschaert cited age, family opportunities and plans for corporate work outside fighting. He said he had good opportunities to earn for his family and described a planned change to corporate work. He also reflected on the length of his career, saying he had competed since 2007 and had taken part in additional bouts that were not on the books.
Meerschaert said he was getting too old for the sport and also reflected that the fighters at 205lb were bigger.
The reports describe Meerschaert as retiring after the loss, after a reported 60 professional fights, a decade in the UFC and a final second-round defeat. The reported middleweight submission records are part of the statistical context for his UFC career, while the Walker result marked the point at which he chose to step away.