Gegard Mousasi Reveals Plan For Bellator Run
Former UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi is gearing up to make his Bellator debut, as he’s set to take on former champion Alexander Shlemenko in the main event of Bellator 185 next weekend.
Although many expected his first fight under the Bellator banner to be a championship fight, Mousasi appears to be content with his place in his new promotion. He also recently revealed that he has ‘options’, as he discussed what could be next should he get passed Shlemenko:
“For me there are a lot of options,” Mousasi told MMAjunkie. “I have to beat Shlemenko first, then the title fight, then maybe a matchup against Rory MacDonald, and then maybe light heavyweight. In light heavyweight, you have ‘King Mo’ (Lawal); you have Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva, ‘Rampage’ Jackson – all big names. Plenty of names I can fight and make exciting fights.”
At just 32 years of age, Mousasi appears to be in his athletic prime, and while he’s not necessarily thinking about retirement, he admits that he may only have a few years of fighting left in him:
“As a fighter I feel like I’m not near the end of my career because I’m still winning,” Mousasi said. “But after six fights, I will probably be around 34 or 35. I think that’s a good age to retire, but I’m not thinking about that too much. I want to see what the results of the fights are going to be. If I keep losing, then of course it doesn’t make sense to continue. If I keep winning, I will keep continuing for maybe another three fights and then see again after that.”
As far as the fight with Shlemenko goes, Mousasi feels as if he holds the advantage in nearly every area of fighting. The former Strikeforce and DREAM champion also predicted that he’ll finish the fight in two rounds or less:
“I feel like I should bee able to finish him in two rounds,” Mousasi said. “I’m too fast. Physically I’m bigger and stronger. I have the reach. I have the advantage in the stand-up and on the ground and in wrestling. Everything is to my advantage. The only thing I have to worry about is spinning back kicks, elbows and stuff like that. He’s tough and comes to fight, but I feel like he’s too aggressive. He makes a lot of mistakes. He comes to fight, and that’s why he makes a lot of mistakes, because he wants to brawl. I will land my shots.”
How do you expect Mousasi’s Bellator run to play out?
