Gegard Mousasi Goes Off On UFC For Matchmaking And Pay
Gegard Mousasi used to be known as someone who was somewhat quiet and didn’t speak his mind in public. However, that has all changed with the recent direction of the UFC and how the company has changed the ways that they do their matchmaking. Mousasi is making his name known and had a big 2016 as he scored four wins with three of them coming by knockout. Now, he is set for what could be his biggest challenge, and that is to take on former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the co-main event of UFC 210 this Saturday in Buffalo, New York.
With the division backloaded of qualified competitors waiting for their chance at the title, Mousasi finds him in that same situation due to champion Michael Bisping defending his belt against former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre sometime this year. If Mousasi got a win this weekend, then he would have received a title shot under the old UFC system, but now that is not the case. Mousasi recently boiled over at the “silly fights” that, he feels, have denied him a chance to fight for the belt.
“At first they made the Dan Henderson fight that didn’t make any sense.” Mousasi told the Fight Society podcast recently. “The number one contender didn’t fight then. Now they’re making the GSP fight, and Michael Bisping hasn’t fought for a long time. So the number one contender has to wait again. If the number one contenders would have fought in those two fights, I would have been next by now but because the UFC is making these silly fights, [I] get pushed around. So now if I win, I’m going to have to put everything on the line again and get another win and then maybe I’m next. And still maybe, because who knows what fight they’re going to make after this. I deserve [a title shot]. ‘Jacare’ has deserved a shot already. Yoel Romero deserves his shot. Why aren’t we getting our title shots? What can I say. They’re just stalling or whatever. Now they’re saying GSP may not want to fight until January or whatever. Make GSP fight Anderson Silva. If they want to have a super fight, make GSP vs. Anderson. Even if he wins, he’s going to vacate the title. It’s as simple as that. He’s not going to defend against a top middleweight. He’s just looking for a fight, and then he will go. He will go fight somebody else.”
Mousasi thinks the idea of title contenders saying that Bisping is dodging the top competition is misplaced aggression. He thinks that Bisping is acting reasonably in this situation and that the UFC is to blame for all of this.
“[Bisping]’s got to do what’s good for him and his family. He’s going to try to make some money and retire. You cannot blame the guy who wants to make money and take care of the future of his family. You can’t blame the guy. If I was to blame, I would blame the UFC for making those fights. They shouldn’t make those fights. Like I said, they should have made Anderson vs. GSP because GSP hasn’t fought in three years and he’s never fought at middleweight. How can he get a title shot? It doesn’t make any sense. Make up different fights.”
“I just see that Vitor Belfort is making tons more money than me. I defeated Dan Henderson, he’s making tons more money than me. I defeated Mark Hunt. He’s making $800,000 a fight. I can beat Michael Bisping and even before he was champion he was making a lot more than me. Why don’t I deserve to make some money? . . . How is it possible Mark Hunt is making $800,000 with a record of 10-10? He has a record of 10 wins, 10 losses. Look at my record. How the f**k is that possible? It comes all down to this fight. That’s why I trained so hard for this fight. It’s not because I want to beat Chris Weidman. It’s because I need to get paid, and I’m going to get paid. That’s what I’m going to do.”
You can listen to the podcast here:
