Highly-regarded MMA veteran and top contender Gegard Mousasi has made it clear that he wants to fight Anderson Silva in his next Octagon appearance, now he’s issuing a formal challenge.
Mousasi issued the following statement to Ariel Helwani and MMAFighting.com regarding his desire to fight “The Spider” at either UFC 199 on 6/4 or UFC 200 on 7/9:
“All of the Brazilian media has been contacting us today about a potential Mousasi/Silva match-up in Brazil. It is an exciting idea as it will be a stadium show. However, the Curitiba card is right around the corner. Therefore, we need adequate time to put the camp together and prepare. We would gladly fight Anderson. However, a May date is too soon of a return. Had we known immediately after the London card then maybe. But that time has passed us, unfortunately. We will take the fight gladly. However, I think it would make more sense to have them fight either at UFC 199 in LA at the earliest, or alternatively, at UFC 200 in Vegas at the latest. Gegard wants to have the fastest turnaround possible while not compromising the organization and structure of his training camp. So the question should go back directly to Anderson on whether he accepts our challenge at either UFC 199 or UFC 200.”
Silva’s trainer Rogerio Camoes told Sherdog.com that his fighter is angling for a fight against either Mousasi or Tim Kennedy for UFC 198, which takes place in Silva’s hometown of Curitiba, Brazil on May 14th.