Gerald Meerschaert Misses Weight by 4 Pounds, Loses 30% of Purse

gerald meerschaert missed weight by 4 pounds on Friday at the UFC Perth official weigh-ins, forcing his scheduled middleweight bout with Jacob Malkoun to move to catchweight. The penalty was steep: he forfeited 30 percent of his purse.

Meerschaert and Malkoun

Meerschaert came in at 190 pounds, four pounds over the non-title limit, and the miss was the first of his career after 58 fights. At 38, he entered the card in rough form, riding a four-fight losing streak that began in August 2024.

The weight issue changes the terms of the fight without removing it from the card. Saturday's bout still goes forward, but not as a standard middleweight matchup. For Meerschaert, the miss adds another setback to a run that already included a winless 2025.

UFC Perth Scale Results

Most of the rest of the card avoided the same problem. Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates both made championship weight at 170 pounds, and all 25 other fighters competing Saturday hit their marks.

The co-main event lightweights were clean as well, with Beneil Dariush and Quillan Salkilld each weighing 156 pounds. That left Meerschaert's miss as the card's sharpest scale issue and the only one that carried a financial penalty.

Weight Miss Fallout

The loss of 30 percent of his purse gives the scale miss an immediate cost, and the catchweight shift keeps the fight alive for Saturday. Malkoun still gets an opponent, but under revised terms that reflect Meerschaert's first career weight miss and the number beside it: 190 pounds.