Now coming off of a three fight win streak with his most recent victory coming last night (October 8, 2016) against Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 204, No. 9-ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi has his eyes set on the 185-pound title, and he is looking for a big name fight to get him there.
In his post-fight press conference with the media, Mousasi explained his reasoning for calling out the likes of Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva for a Octagon bout despite the fact that he is ranked outside of the top five:
“Well No. 1-4 are booked. If they give me a fight very soon, those are the guys I want to fight that are not booked. So if not they keep me waiting. Chris Weidmen or Luke Rockhold is a great match-up for me.”
While Mousasi is one of the most dangerous men to take center Octagon in the 185-pound weight division, fans seem to be overlooking the Dutchman who now owns 40 victories in his mixed martial arts career.
Later that night UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would retain his title against longtime foe Dan Henderson, and would proceed to call out top middleweight contenders Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, notably leaving Mousasi’s name out of the mix:
“Well I think I’m underrated throughout my whole career, maybe because I’m from Holland people don’t care. But I don’t know, maybe throw some bottles at someone’s head and then people gonna notice me. You know, I fight Michael Bisping — with his performance tonight, I like Michael Bisping, you guys know I can beat him. I will beat Michael Bisping, I will jab his face the whole night. Easy.”
When asked if he thinks Bisping is afraid to fight him, Mousasi refuted the claim and pointed to Anderson Silva for swooping in and taking away his big name fight opportunities:
“No, no, no, no, I was scheduled to fight him but somehow Anderson Silva show up, he took my fight. I was supposed to fight ‘DC’. I was ready, I was able to go five rounds, it was me or Anderson Silva at that moment. There weren’t any other guys to choose from at that moment, so Anderson Silva been coming from an operation, laying on his couch, they woke him up, gave him some medical tests, and gave him the title shot.
“He wasn’t able to go five rounds so he choose to go three rounds, and he was happy just holding on for three rounds just to survive. So in that time it was me and Anderson who deserved to fight for the belt, if it was me and Anderson. So I don’t know, my time will come. My time will come.”
Mousasi called for a bout with Silva and was also asked about a potential match-up with longtime welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre as a possibility as well. Mousasi, however, finds both of those pairings highly unlikely, as he believes both men have too much to lose by fighting him and nothing to gain:
“Ya they not gonna give me that fight. He has nothing to gain to fight me, even Anderson not gonna take the fight because why would he risk against me when he can fight maybe ‘GSP’ or some other guy. So they’re not gonna take the fight against me because nothing to gain. So yea, no.”
The former Strikeforce champ was then asked about his thoughts on trash-talking money makers getting big fights instead of the men and women who are ranked high in the rankings, and Mousasi pointed at UFC champion Conor McGregor as a prime example during his answer:
“McGregor is good for the sport, but what is it? You had Muhammad Ali he was a hero, he was beside great boxer, he did big things. But now that you have Mayweather and Conor McGregor ‘I have money, I have money.’ And everybody loves it. I don’t know, that sells.
“What can I say, people are stupid. They don’t know who’s a real fighter or not, they just like to see expensive stuff on Instagram probably, I don’t know.”
With his victory over Belfort giving him his fifth win in Europe, Mousasi was asked if he prefers to fight there instead and had this to say:
“Ya Europe is good for me and USADA is good for me, and I will be champion with the USADA.”
You can watch the full UFC 204 post-fight press conference here:
The post Gegard Mousasi Trashes Anderson Silva, ‘GSP’, & Conor McGregor Post-UFC 204 Win appeared first on LowKick MMA.