LAS VEGAS – Brad Tavares likes how he matches up with Gerald Meerschaert, but won’t make the mistake of underestimating him.
Tavares (20-10 MMA, 15-10 UFC) takes on fellow middleweight veteran Meerschaert (37-18 MMA, 12-10 UFC) in Saturday’s (ESPN, ESPN+) UFC on ESPN 65 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Meerschaert has come up big as an underdog with surprising finishes over the likes of Makhmud Muradov, Bruno Silva, and Edmen Shahbazyan – and Tavares is fully aware of that.
“I loved it – it’s a fight that I actually wanted,” Tavares said of Meerschaert at Wednesday’s media day. “I think stylistically, it’s a good matchup. Gerald is a very tough guy, but I think for me very beatable – not taking anything away from him.
“I feel like that’s the downfall to a lot of the people he’s beaten because a lot of his fights you’ll watch, you think he’s down and out, it’s over, and here comes Hail Mary: He pulls it off. So you’ve got to respect that about the guy. (He’s) another veteran who’s been here a long time, has a lot of fights, a lot of experience like myself, so definitely not overlooking him.”
Although Tavares is expecting to have his moments in the fight, he won’t necessarily chase the finish or expect it. He explains why.
“He’s a tough guy. He is hard to put away,” Tavares said. “Even when people think they’ve got the fight in the bag with him, you watch his film, you see a lot of his fights – he’ll pull it off. He’ll find a way. He’s one of those guys that will find a way to get it done, and you have to respect that about him.
“A lot of people maybe mid-fight – some of them go into that not respecting him, and some of them because they’re doing so well, they forget almost. Again, experience: I’ve made that mistake in the past before where I’ve done so well early on, and I kind of let off the gas or got away from the game plan a little bit, and then it ultimately doesn’t work out. It’s something I mentally keep reminding myself.”
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