Gerald Meerschaert (+380) vs. Khazmat Chimaev (-490)
Weight Class: Middleweight (185 lbs)
Arguably the top prospect in all of MMA, Khazmat Chimaev will be facing a legitimate step up in completion when he squares up with Gerald Meerschaert. The Chechen born Chimaev is 2-0 in the UFC with two absolutely dominant finishes. His opponents haven’t had a prayer thus far, as Chimaev has done as he said he would and “smashed” his opponents. The Chechen phenom also recently secured the record for quickest turnaround between UFC wins.
As for Meerschaert, the veteran is currently tied for the most submissions in UFC Middleweight history. He secured a solid guillotine victory following a back-and-forth fight back with Deron Winn back in March.
Now I’ll be quick with this one. As much as I’d personally love to see Meerschaert pull out the W, I highly doubt he’ll be the one to stop the Chimaev train. GM3’s boxing is quite slow and he’s probably too lanky to secure a take down here.
Meerschaert’s best path to victory is for Chimaev to get overzealous. If he shoots for a bad take down, he could fine himself in a precarious position. GM3 is extremely dangerous off his back and a sub is his best path to victory.
With that said, I do think that Chimaev is going to win, and I think he’ll do so via knockout. If he’s smart, Chimaev will just be patient. His boxing should solid enough to best GM3 and set up an opportune take down. From there, I just expect Chimaev to rain ground-and-pound. Playing the submission game with Meerschaert would be foolish.
Khazmat Chimaev by KO (+140) is the pick.
Prediction and play: Khazmat Chimaev by KO (+140)