Jacob Malkoun bemoans lackluster UFC Perth performance

Malkoun (10-3) downed Gerald
Meerschaert in a middleweight outing in front of a home crowd
at
UFC Perth, but he needed three full rounds to get it done.
While Malkoun closed as an overwhelming -1400 betting favorite
going in, the fight didn’t reflect the odds. Malkoun chose to
grapple in the first round against the submission savant, who
managed to control the round. Even as Malkoun bounced back in the
later rounds, he could not establish the dominance expected of him.
The Australian eventually earned a lukewarm unanimous decision win,
one that did not earn his satisfaction.

“Mamba” isn’t certain about what was off, and he plans to go back
to the drawing board with his team. Malkoun said in his post-fight
interview:

“It wasn’t the performance I was hoping to do,” the Aussie remarked
with frustration. “You learn from your losses. You gotta learn as
much as you do with a win like that. You’re not happy, but at least
you go home and work with how to get better… My coaches knew I was
a bit off. You could tell that they knew something was wrong with
me… But credit to Meerschaert, I know he is a veteran. Gave me a
hard fight, I’m not gonna take the credit from him. He’s a tough
dude… Just gotta figure out what was wrong. Maybe something with my
weight cut, the food, we’ll figure out what it is.”

Malkoun is currently riding a three-fight winning streak, his
longest in the UFC. His finish rate fell to 30% with another
decision on his ledger. Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Meerschaert
(37-22) has now lost five in a row.