Now that he’s settled into Bellator, Gegard Mousasi is looking to take out all their champions.
If Gegard Mousasi thought life was going to be easier in Bellator than in the UFC, he got a rude awakening in his debut fight against Alexander Shlemenko. While he managed to beat Shlemenko by decision, Shlemenko wailed on Mousasi’s face so hard it’s left one eye looking a bit disfigured.
”Thank God, I can see clearly,” Mousasi told MMA Junkie. “That’s the most important thing. The pupil is a little bit bigger than the other one. But that’s only in the sunshine. I don’t know. It’s not the same anymore. After my career, I can get it fixed. This sport doesn’t make me any prettier. Not that I was pretty (before), but it’s not a good thing.”
That reminder of the very high stakes involved in MMA hasn’t stopped Mousasi from chasing the hardest fights across numerous Bellator divisions. He’ll face middleweight champ Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 on May 25th, and if all goes well he’ll follow that up with a fight against welterweight champ Rory MacDonald.
“After this fight, hopefully we can get it done and he can come and show his skills,” Mousasi said on the latest edition of The MMA Hour. “But he will come up short. His style is perfect for me, he moves forward — he’ll get his ass kicked, probably.”
Mousasi is 8-1 since 2015 and left the UFC on a four fight knockout finishing streak. MacDonald has bounced back from a two fight skid in the UFC with two wins in Bellator, but he struggled en route to his first major title win over Douglas Lima in January. First Mousasi will have to beat the 15-1 Carvalho, who may not have the name recognition of MacDonald but definitely has the skills to throw a wrench in these UFC vs. UFC plans.