First of all, let me state that I’ve been saying this for the past two years. There’s absolutely no reason why Mousasi should be fighting as a light heavyweight because he’s simply too small for the division.
It was refreshing to hear FUEL TV analyst Ariel Helwani say that Mousasi and his camp were entertaining the thought of moving back down to the middleweight division on “UFC Tonight”:
“I spoke with his manager Nima Safapour and he told me that they like the idea of moving down to middleweight. He said he wants to talk to Zuffa, to the fans, and if they’re interested, they’ll consider going down. He said they can make the cut easily and want a top-five opponent. They also told me Anderson Silva is on their radar, so stay tuned for that.”
Mousasi (34-3-2) is coming off a lopsided decision win over late replacement fighter Ilir Latifi earlier this month. Mousasi could move to the middleweight division, fight the likes of Michael Bisping and/or Vitor Belfort and be in title contention. Mousasi’s biggest weakness is his takedown defense, and once you factor in the knee injury he’s currently suffering from it makes no sense to fight larger fighters with wrestling bases in the light heavyweight division.
It’s a smart move if it happens and one that will be better off for him in the long run. Give us your thoughts on the potential move and how do you think Mousasi would stack up with the top UFC middleweights in the game right now?