LAS VEGAS – Although he’s had 21 fights in the UFC, Gerald Meerschaert didn’t hesitate when he got the call to fight promotional newcomer Reinier de Ridder at UFC Fight Night 247.

De Ridder (17-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) isn’t any ordinary debuting fight. He’s a former two-division titleholder with ONE Championship, and was a celebrated free agent signing by the matchmakers, who wasted no time throwing him in the deep end against middleweight finishes record holder Meerschaert (37-17 MMA, 12-9 UFC) on Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex (ESPN+).

“I think it’s a good thing,” Meerschaert told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 247 media day. “I think a lot more people know about de Ridder than maybe some of the people who only follow UFC give him credit for. He’s tough. Had a lot of belts in ONE FC, so that’s nothing to shake your head at. It’s fun to be the one to welcome in somebody who was a double champ in a different organization because I think it says a lot about me if I can go out and get that finish on Saturday.”

With back-to-back wins on his resume, Meerschaert is enjoying the current state of his career. Like most fighters, his goal is to move up the rankings and into more relevant matchups. He’s not sure how much beating de Ridder will help with the former, but he said he will be demanding the latter if he gets his hand raised.

“I think a win over de Ridder, if I win impressively enough, I think it could put me at No. 15 (in UFC’s official rankings), but it definitely puts me in the conversation for fighting ranked guys,” Meerschaert said. “Absolutely. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Win on Saturday, I would like to fight someone ranked or just give me somebody that has a decent name on a big card. Fighting somebody high in the ranking is important, but getting eyeballs on you having great performances is just as, if not more so important.”

Meerschaert admitted he’s as curious as anyone to see what de Ridder is capable of at the UFC level, especially given his strong grappling skills. Meerschaert owns the most submission victories in the history of UFC’s 185-pound weight class, so the matchup on the mat is one he is keen to dive into.

“I expect him to be at his best and he’s a very, very good grappler,” Meerschaert said. “Especially straight jiu-jitsu style grappling, he’s one of the last guys that really goes out there and implements that in his game plan. He’s definitely more in the style of a Gunnar Nelson or Demian Maia, and he’s just as dangerous as either one of those guys.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 247.

It was in Brandon Royval’s best interest for Brandon Moreno to beat Amir Albazi.

Former champion Moreno (22-8-2 MMA, 10-5-2 UFC) returned in peak form when he battered a tough Albazi (17-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for five rounds in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 246 main event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Considering that Royval’s past two wins have come against Moreno then formerly unbeaten Tatsuro Taira in a Fight of the Night effort, the 32-year-old thinks he just became the clear-cut No. 1 contender.

“I think the only thing that it cleared up completely was that I’m next for the title shot,” Royval told MMA Junkie. “I think that’s what it did. It just cleared the way for me and keep everything going. I thought he (Moreno) looked sick. I had such a good time watching him. I liked the look in his eye when he walked out. The moment he walked out, I was like, ‘All right, cool, this is what I want to see: a pissed-off Brandon Moreno ready to go.’

“And he fought with a f*cking attitude and chip on his shoulder, and I loved that. I really, in my head, just think the flyweight division – I feel we get a lot of criticism of because the top three, top four guys are just clearing out everybody and just kind of staying in the top three, top four, but I feel like the flyweight division has been more exciting than it’s ever been.”

Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) won’t immediately get his wish. He has to wait for flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja to defend his title against ex-RIZIN champion Kai Asakura on Dec. 7 at UFC 310 – but he expects to face the winner.

“If they’re not going to bring anybody in, and it’s between me, Moreno and Kai Kara-France, it’s definitely me,” Royval said. “I feel like that’s the only thing that makes sense. Moreno and Kai Kara-France have some sick wins against some sick opponents, and they did a great job. But that being said, I have a win over both those guys, and I think if it’s between us three, it’s me.”

Royval has no issue with newcomer Asakura getting a title shot in his UFC debut. In fact, after fighting both Moreno and Pantoja twice, he could use a new face.

“I’m a fan of it,” Royval said on Asakura’s addition. “I want fresh blood, too. We’re talking about three rematches as a possibility. Like, I could fight Kai Kara-France next, Brandon Moreno, and Pantoja next, and the only one I’m ready to go do is fight Pantoja next. If Kai Asakura wins that belt, I think that’s going to be one of the better fights of the year. Me and Kai Asakura are both guys who bring fights.”

England interim manager Lee Carsley has handed first call-ups to Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle United full-back Lewis Hall for this month’s Nations League fixtures.

The pair could make their national debuts for the Three Lions as they prepare to face Greece on 14 November and Republic of Ireland on 17 November.

Manchester City defender John Stones is a notable absentee, while Jack Grealish is included despite missing City’s last five matches through injury.

Chelsea winger Cole Palmer has been selected, despite being an injury doubt for Sunday’s Premier League match against Arsenal.

Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale has been included ahead of Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, while Manchester United duo Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire miss out through injury.

It is Carsley’s final England squad as interim manager before Thomas Tuchel takes charge on a full-time basis.

BKFC champion Kai Stewart wasn’t necessarily looking for a fight against fellow Montana native Sean O’Malley, but now he actually likes that idea.

As he prepares to defend his title on home soil against UFC veteran Jimmie Rivera on Saturday, Stewart addressed his beef with O’Malley, which dates back to UFC 292, the night that the flamboyant Contender Series veteran first captured the bantamweight championship. It was an odd interaction when O’Malley was asked about the rise of combat sports in Montana and when Stewart’s name was mentioned, he responded by saying “that kid sucks … he’s in my DMs talking shit, I don’t even know this kid.”

It turns out the direct message was from four years ago but apparently O’Malley never forgot.

“So the DM in question was from 2020, this was 2023 when he beat [Aljamain Sterling],” Stewart told MMA Fighting. “It’s from 2020, he posted something about wrestlers and one of my really good friends is Myles Mazurkiewicz, if you type that name versus Sean O’Malley on YouTube, you’ll see what happens.

“My only negative DM to him was, ‘What about Myles Mazurkiewicz, the only wrestler you’ve ever faced?’ Apparently that stuck because three years down the road he hit me with that.”

The fight in question came when O’Malley was still an amateur and he suffered a loss to Mazurkiewicz, was a standout wrestler at the University of Providence in Montana. Stewart says that was the only private message he ever sent to O’Malley and that seemingly innocuous interaction led to some ill feelings between them.

In addition to that incident, Stewart revealed he also received an opportunity from O’Malley’s team to face off with one of his training partners with the now-former UFC champion offering up a bonus to make the fight happen. While Stewart does have a pro MMA bout on his résumé, he’s now a reigning and defending BKFC champion and he has no plans to burn the promotion by trying to pursue a grudge match against one of O’Malley’s boys.

“They said, ‘Sean O’Malley will give you $20,000 if you can sign up and fight against our guy and win,’” Stewart said. “I was like obviously I’m not giving up my world title to fight a 1-0 pro fighter in MMA. Absolutely not. It’s just little things like that. They’re just trying real hard to see a downfall in me because I think they’re just scared that I’m coming, especially after that Merab [Dvalishvili] fight.”

Despite the simmering bad blood between them, Stewart says he still openly roots for O’Malley whenever he competes because he always wants to show support to his fellow fighters from Montana.

“I’ve rooted for him every single fight,” Stewart said. “People said Merab was just going to do what he did to O’Malley and I thought it was possible but also I saw how chinny Merab is. If I was going to put my money down on the fight, I would probably put my money on Sean. That’s what I was telling people. Sean is a sniper. Then Merab went out and did that.

“I still supported him through everything because Montana to the moon. But eventually the forces are going to clash and it’s going to be good. If there’s any beef, it’s the Montana way, let’s just take care of it.”

It might seem impossible to imagine a fight between Stewart and O’Malley considering they don’t compete in the same promotion much less the same sport. That said, Stewart knows new BKFC owner Conor McGregor has already pitched the idea of doing crossover fights with the UFC and he doesn’t rule out the possibility that a showdown against O’Malley could actually happen one day.

“Conor posted recently about doing crossovers with Dana [White], Conor is still super marketed through the UFC, he’s in every commercial that they have so that holds weight,” Stewart said. “I definitely slid up and hopefully we can get that fight set up one day no matter where we do it.

“I’m leaving the door open. I’m in the position where I’m willing to go to 135. I’m willing to go to MMA. I’m willing to do it in bare-knuckle. I’m willing to do it at 145. I’m willing to do it at a catchweight. The ball is entirely and literally in O’Malley’s court. That’s what I wanted. As long as I remain king of BKFC, it’s way more likely we can get a fatter payday over here than we could over there.”

Stewart maintains he really doesn’t have anything against O’Malley but he also loves the idea of two top fighters from Montana squaring off to settle whatever beef exists between them.

“If there’s any beef, it’s the Montana way, let’s just take care of it,” Stewart said. “I will fight O’Malley in MMA, bare knuckle, we can do whatever he wants. I’m going to take it home.”

Daniel Cormier doesn’t love the idea of Max Holloway jumping right back into the deep end.

Holloway came up short in his bid to reclaim the featherweight title when he got knocked out by Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 308. It was the first knockout loss of Holloway’s career and afterwards the former featherweight champion declared he will be moving up to lightweight full time. Fans were immediately interested in Holloway moving back up to 155 pounds as were a few fighters, including a former Holloway opponent: Dustin Poirier.

Poirier himself is near the end of his career, and though he already has two wins over Holloway, “The Diamond” is interested in a trilogy bout with current “BMF” champion. But Daniel Cormier isn’t sure that’s the best idea.

“He’s asking for Dustin Poirier. That would be absolutely fantastic,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy. “But is there a better way to introduce Max Holloway into the lightweight division? Do we put him in there with a Dustin for a third time? Or do we see what happens with Michael Chandler after he fights against Charles Oliveira? Or do we start to kind of look down the rankings a little bit and say, ‘Well, it would be fun to watch him fight a Rafael Fiziev. It would be fun to watch him fight a Benoit Saint Denis. It would be fun to watch him fight a Paddy Pimblett.’

“I know that might not be fun for Max, that might not be great for Max, but it would also give him an opportunity to work his way back into contention without being in there with these absolute killers. Because personally, I would like to see Max Holloway not stand across from Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Alexander Volkanovski, then Ilia Topuria. Something not as crazy of a challenge.”

Poirier is certainly a major challenge for Holloway. The two have met twice before, once at featherweight where Poirier submitted Holloway with a triangle armbar in Holloway’s fifth career fight. The pair rematched seven years later at UFC 236 for the interim lightweight title, with Poirier taking a unanimous decision in one of the best fights of the 2019. That fight remains one of only two lightweight fights in Holloway’s UFC career, the other being his sensational knockout of Justin Gaethje to claim the “BMF” title at UFC 300.

Out. Cody Garbrandt is out of UFC Vegas 100 due to injury.

Retirement. Chris Weidman says he’s taking his career one fight at a time.

$$$. UFC revenue drops in third quarter but TKO still delivers overall gains ahead of big 2025.

Chris Weidman interview

Mike Tyson dropping a sparring partner.

Taking a look at the Fighting Nerds team.

Also, check out Carlos Prates’s UFC run before Saturday.

Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier.

No Bets Barred

So based on everything we know, this isn’t true. But Poirier is out here ready if it somehow is.

Jon Jones training.

Alex Pereira in the content game.

Best fight of the weekend.

He’s back!

I cannot believe I’m saying this but: I think I agree with Daniel Cormier?

Max should take a fair bit of time off anyway just to make sure he’s good, but I was at UFC 236 and Poirier plunked Max around. Obviously it was very competitive and both men are older and probably a little worse, but that’s a tough matchup for Max in the best of times. Maybe easing back into lightweight would be prudent.

That being said, I need a Max vs. Charles Oliveira rematch like I need air.

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