Gerald Meerschaert is looking forward to working in an air-conditioned environment with clothes on after retiring from MMA this past weekend.Meerschaert, who holds the UFC record for finishes (12) and submission wins (11) in the middleweight division, announced his retirement after a second-round knockout loss at UFC Vegas 122.Meerschaert said he is ‘getting too old for this stuff’ after suffering defeat to Julius Walker on the UFC Fight Night cardGettyIt was the 38-year-old’s sixth consecutive UFC defeat in his 60th professional MMA fight after almost 20 years in the sport.And, rightly so, that was enough for the Wisconsin native to call it quits on his career.Meerschaert excited for life post-UFC careerSpeaking at the event’s post-fight press conference, Meerschaert explained what his future now looks like outside of MMA.“I know exactly what I’m going to be doing after this and it has nothing to do with fighting,” Meerschaert said.View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/UFCVegas122?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“Unlike most of my peers, I’ve got a pretty good head on my shoulders.“I’m going to do some stuff more in the corporate setting and make my money that way.“I’ll get to work in air conditioning now and get to have all my clothes on. It’s going to be a real big change of pace for me.”‘GM3’ said he had been thinking about retiring long and hard, but kept his decision between him and his wife.Meerschaert: I fought when headbutts were legal“I kept it pretty close to the chest,” he added.“I didn’t want any thoughts of that swaying or changing how I did anything with my team.Meerschaert went 12-15 in fights during his 10 years with the UFCGetty“I know we all knew it was going to be close to the last one if it wasn’t the last one. I’m pretty much done.“If the UFC came back and said, ‘We’ll give you one somewhere that you think is to your advantage and we want to do something special, I might think about it.“But I’ve been fighting since 2007. I spent half my career in the UFC. I got 60 professional fights and a bunch more that aren’t even on the books.“I fought when head butts were legal. I’m getting too old for this stuff. This will probably be it for me.”Meerschaert made his UFC debut 10 years ago at a Fight Night card in New York.In total, he won 12 of his 27 bouts in Dana White‘s promotion, with his last victory a second-round submission over Edmen Shahbazyan in August 2024.Six years ago, Meerschaert also made the headlines for a 17-second KO defeat to former champion Khamzat Chimaev in the latter’s third UFC fight.UFC ScheduleThere are still several blockbuster shows and exciting contests for fight fans to look forward to in 2026, and you can find the full list of all confirmed events and official bouts as part of talkSPORT.com’s UFC schedule.The UFC, on average, puts on 13 to 14 premium events in a calendar year, with up to 30 smaller ‘Fight Night’ cards allowing prospects and less experienced fighters to showcase their talents.On January 1, 2026, Dana White’s promotion signed a seven-year broadcast deal with CBS and Paramount+ for exclusive rights in the US, meaning the UFC has put on shows like never before this year.With the historic first event in the new Paramount era, UFC 324, delivering huge success, and a one-of-a-kind fight card at the White House in June opening up the UFC to a new audience, the promotion remains a premium global sports brand, and fans are eager to keep track of results and upcoming fights.