Gegard Mousasi enters UFC Fight Night 75 riding his first winning streak inside the Octagon, and plans to go three straight against Uriah Hall. Originally set to face Brazilian veteran Roan Carneiro at Saturday’s UFC event in Japan, Mousasi sees Hall as a better match-up style-wise.
"I’ve done everything right. I’m looking forward to get to the fight, and get the job done," Mousasi told MMAFighting.com. "I’m gonna fight differently against Uriah Hall than my previous opponent. Actually, I will be able to be more aggressive, and not worry much about the takedowns, although he might surprise me and go for the takedowns. But, for me, it’s a good match-up."
Hall bounced back from a split decision loss to Rafael Natal in May with a first-round stoppage over Oluwale Bamgbose in August, and Mousasi expects to face the best Hall there is on Saturday -- even though that might not be enough.
"He’s coming off a win and I think it’s a good fight, he’s looking forward to the fight, so I expect the best out of him," he said. "I’m gonna be the guy that goes forward, it’s not gonna be his night. He’s gonna have to deal with fighting backwards, deal with fighting with a lot of pressure. He’s gonna fight one of the best Mousasis that’s gonna step in the cage, so it’s gonna be difficult for him."
Fighting in Japan for the first time since 2011, when he beat Hiroshi Izumi via first-round knockout, Mousasi feels at home on the Land of the Rising Sun.
"It’s great to be back," said Mousasi, who won 13 of 14 MMA fights in Japan, beating the likes of Ronaldo Souza, Mark Hunt and Hector Lombard. "I always enjoyed fighting in Japan, and it’s not different this time. I’m gonna put on a show."
Ranked at No. 6 in the middleweight division, Mousasi hopes to face a top contender after getting past Hall.
"It’s gonna get me against a contender," he said of a win over Hall. "If I win this fight, they’re probably going to give me a guy that’s probably a contender, or in the top 5, top 10. It’s definitely going to get me closer."
Coming off wins over Costas Philippou and Dan Henderson, Mousasi suffered his last defeat against top contender "Jacare" at UFC Fight Night 50. A year later, "The Dreamcatcher" guarantees he’s a different fighter.
"I’ve changed a lot of things," he said. "There was so much wrong with the ‘Jaca’ fight, but, you know, ‘Jaca’ did a good job not letting me get back into the fight. It’s not gonna happen again. I believe that was one of the worst performances that I had, and I don’t see that happening again."
Eyeing a shot at the UFC gold, Mousasi would be glad to face Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida or Michael Bisping after Saturday’s bout, but has his preferences.
"(Machida) is coming off a loss, so I think if Vitor wins his next fight, or Michael Bisping wins his next fight, I think that’s the better fight for me."
Machida is the only one of those athletes who already fought Mousasi, winning via decision at UFC Fight Night 36 in February of 2014. Mousasi wouldn’t turn down a rematch, but has one demand.
"I think it’s going to be a very different fight fighting him in the U.S., not fighting him in Brazil. That would be a big difference," Mousasi said. "First of all, I think the newer drug policy is good. And he was very slippery in that fight, I think he put some oil in his body. Those things I believe would be different if he’s not fighting in Brazil.
"One thing I know for sure is he was oiled up. He had a lot of oil in his body. You don’t sweat it, but once you sweat it comes out. I’m fighting, at that moment I don’t think about it, but looking back to the fight, I took him down and he got back right up, I wasn’t able to grab something. I had his back, and I slipped from his back. Later one, even Luke Rockhold said he was slippery in his fight. Watching the pictures, he was shining as hell. What can I say? So those are things it makes difference, so, yeah, I think it’s gonna make the difference if he fights somewhere else."