Gegard Mousasi contemplating move to Middleweight, wants Vitor Belfort
In a recent conversation with MMAFighting.com Gegard Mousasi had some interesting things to say regarding his near future in the UFC. Given the fact that he’s at a decent amount of time in order to contemplate his future due to his injury, it seems he’s come to some fairly logical conclusions regarding his size, abilities and which division is best suited for him.
As far as weight goes, MoUSAsi has hinted at the possibility of moving down to Middleweight but listnening to hims speak it’s beginning to seem like it’s a sure thing and that his mind has been fairly made up on the matter:
“There’s a big chance that I will go to middleweight. It all depends on the fights that I’m going to get. If I’m going to get a big name at middleweight, I’ll probably go down. It’s all about matchups. Let’s say they’re going to give me somebody like Vitor Belfort that’s maybe a contender. That’s the kind of fight I want.”
As I stated above, at the end of the day it seems like MoUSAsi’s head is in the right place and he’s now realizing that the best way to win to give yourself as many advantages over your opponent as possible, size in particular being one of them, even if a very small one:
“To be honest, I believe middleweight will be much better for me. I will give my opponent less advantages. But at the end of the day it’s all about skills. That doesn’t mean that size advantages always win, but like I’ve said, in the highest level, you don’t want to give the slightest edge to your opponent. Everyone is skilled, everyone has abilities. So that’s why I think middleweight will be much more suitable to my body frame.
“It’s all about the opportunity. I really want to go for this belt. I believe that style-wise, matchup-wise, I matchup much better against Anderson Silva than Jon Jones, but it doesn’t mean that I’m scared to fight at 205. Jon Jones is skilled and so is Anderson Silva, but at the highest levels, when you’re competing against the top levels, you don’t want to give anybody an advantage. So I don’t want to give a weight and size difference advantage also. That’s why I said middleweight.”
As far as his last bout, MoUSAsi knew what to expect and has come to realize that you’re only as good as your competition, with that said he didn’t expect people to sing his praises regardless of the outcome against last minute replacement Ilir Latifi:
“The fight I had last (Ilir Latifi), the guy wasn’t known, he wasn’t ranked. It doesn’t mean anything. But I have a history. I only haven’t fought in UFC, but I have a history. People come and get immediate title shots. I don’t think that’s going to be the case for me, but I’ve beaten champions, ex-champions. So it’s all about one, maybe two big names and then I hope to get a title shot.”
But the fighter hasn’t allowed himself to get hung up on the past, no this is a new MoUSAsi, one that seems to be more inspired than I can recall. Looking forward MoUSAsi wanted to simply clear up any potential of fans thinking that he was in anyway afraid to stick around at 205lbs, especially considering the countless lopsided fights he’s had in terms of weight and size disadvantage:
“I think size-wise, the difference wouldn’t be much. Also matchup-wise, I think Anderson is more of a striker. Jon Jones is more of a takedowns guy. So I think matchup-wise and also size-wise [it makes more sense]. But I don’t have any problem fighting Jon Jones either. So before people make something else out of it and say, ‘Ah, he’s already losing’ — I’m confident. I’m a fighter. If I don’t have any confidence I can win a fight, then I shouldn’t be fighting. So it’s not about that. It’s just being smart. I fought Mark Hunt, you know? I fought K-1 at heavyweight. My last fights, Mike Kyle was much bigger. The guy that I fought, Latifi, he cut 20, 22 pounds before that. He was also much heavier. Size doesn’t mean a lot. But like I said, on the highest level guys are much better, so you don’t want to give any advantage. That’s what I’m saying.”
As a fan of MoUSAsi here’s hoping he gets the Middleweight fight he’s looking for and the UFC lines him up with a marquee Middleweight contender worthy of a clear path to the title if victorious and ultimately a good stlye match up for the fans.
