Gegard Mousasi really wants to fight Vitor Belfort. It appears the feelings aren’t mutual however. Belfort is no doubt waiting to see how UFC 162’s main event between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman plays out before he makes a call on his career plans, but that isn’t sitting well with Mousasi.
MMA Fighting is reporting that Mousasi and his management believe Belfort is a “hypocrite” because they believe he was granted two title shots they contend he didn’t earn.
This comes on the heels of Belfort saying, “To fight Vitor Belfort you have to earn it,” which apparently has upset Mousasi and his team, via Sherdog.com. Mousasi does make a pretty fair argument as to why Belfort is a hypocrite in his eyes.
Via MMA Fighting:
As (Ariel) Helwani also reported, Mousasi and his team can’t understand why their request can’t be met if Alexander Gustafsson is being granted a title shot after he was forced out of a bout due to injury…Last, but certainly not least, Mousasi claims Affliction offered him a fight in 2008 opposite Belfort at a catchweight, but Belfort declined it citing his lack of inclination to compete at a catchweight. Mousasi told Helwani he can’t understand how Belfort can decline that bout and yet accept a catchweight bout in his return to the UFC.
Belfort has taken to Twitter this week to express his interest in fighting the winner of Silva-Weidman and has pretty much ignored Mousasi‘s requests for a bout.
I understand where Belfort is coming from. Clearly, he wants to see how the UFC middleweight title bout plays out at UFC 162. If Silva wins, Belfort will no doubt receive a title shot and rematch against “The Spider.” On the other hand, it’s already been confirmed Silva will get an immediate rematch if he’s dethroned.
Still, Mousasi presents some valid arguing points for his cause and it does damage the credibility Belfort had built up recently with his “I will fight anyone” mentality. If Weidman pulls off the miracle upset, I believe Belfort won’t have a choice but to face Mousasi as many of the other top guys at 185 pounds are already tied up.
Looks like the middleweight contenders will be keeping their eyes glued to UFC 162 just as much as fight fans will.
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