Gegard Mousasi has called for a clash with Rory MacDonald pending victory in his Bellator 200 middleweight title fight against Rafael Carvalho.
MacDonald tweeted how he thought Alexander Shlemenko did enough to get the nod from the judges when the Russian welcomed Mousasi to the promotion at Bellator 185. Reacting to MacDonald’s tweet, Mousasi claimed that the Bellator welterweight champion should “shut his mouth.”
Although the majority of fans waxed lyrical about the Canadian’s second outing for Bellator — a unanimous decision win over Douglas Lima at Bellator 192 — Mousasi wasn’t all that impressed.
“He didn’t have a great performance either, but I’m not going to go on Twitter and say stupid sh*t,” Mousasi told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.
Mousasi believes that MacDonald’s fighting style suits him perfectly and he would like to make the matchup happen after Bellator 200.
“After this fight, hopefully we can get it done and he can come and show his skills,” Mousasi said. “But he will come up short. His style is perfect for me, he moves forward — he’ll get his ass kicked, probably.”
Although Carvalho hasn’t been beaten since 2011 — his sole career loss — Mousasi doesn’t believe the Brazilian will stifle his momentum.
“If he was in the UFC, he would be top five probably, 10 to five, he would be ranked somewhere between there. He’s tough, he’s skilled, he’s the champion for a reason and he hasn’t lost since 2011, I believe. As I said, he’s the champion for a reason, but I’m coming to get that belt,” Mousasi said.
It seems as though Mousasi has plenty of irons in the fire as he also suggested he would be open to a move up to light heavyweight if he claims that title in London.
“If I beat Carvalho, doors will open,” Mousasi said. “I might go up to light heavyweight and maybe I can accomplish a title there. If I do well in the title fight and I win, I can achieve bigger things.”
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