Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1) is coming off a big win (no pun intended) over Mark Hunt at the DREAM.9 “Super Hulk Tournament” back in May. Mousasi, who is considered by many to be one of the top ten middleweights in the world, is on a 12-fight win streak.
On Aug. 1, 2009, Mousasi will make his U.S. fighting debut as he takes on Renato “Babalu” Sobral at “Affliction: Trilogy” at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Mousasi, now training in Holland, spoke with MMAJunkie Radio on Monday about his fight with Hunt, the continuation of the “Super Hulk Tournament,” and his upcoming fight with Babalu.
Mousasi submitted the large Pride veteran Mark Hunt quickly at DREAM.9 and made clear his game plan, “I knew I needed to take him down, it’s not smart to trade with a bigger guy. I did not want to trade with him.”
As for the next round of the Super Hulk Tournament, Mousasi is pretty sure he will face Thierry Sokoudjou, who walked away with a win over the giant Jan Nortje at DREAM.9. The tournament’s continuation was originally set for September at DREAM.11, but will now supposedly reconvene in October at DREAM.12 due to a TV deal according to Mousasi.
Before Mousasi faces the very athletic Sokoudjou in October, he must first deal with Babalu in August. He had this to say about Babalu, “I consider him a top ten light heavyweight. He’s well-rounded, I’m also well-rounded. Every opponent has weaknesses and I’m going to try and capitalize on that.”
Although Mousasi has been fighting at middleweight since he was 18, he will be taking on Babalu at light heavyweight. Mousasi, who now walks around at 218 lbs. confirmed his days at middleweight are over, “I will always now fight at 205 lbs. and some day heavyweight.”
When asked why the move up in weight, he replied, “Not many people can say they did good at middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. It’s something I want to accomplish.”
Mousasi does have a limit to his aspirations though. When posed with the question if he would fight the undisputed ruler of the heavyweights, his good friend Fedor, he replied, “I think Fedor is better than me so challenging him would not be so good.”
Mousasi is looking forward to making his U.S. debut, “If I want to be considered one of the best, I have to prove myself in the U.S.”
Many believe Mousasi would be a great asset to the UFC’s middleweight division led by Anderson Silva. He confirmed his manager has had talks with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva but due to the UFC’s policy of exclusivity he does not feel it is the right time to make the move.
The question would be if he did come to the UFC, would he stick to his guns about not fighting at middleweight or would he be ready for the stiffest competition in the world which is the UFC light heavyweight division?
He spoke about the possibility of matching up with the UFC’s 205-pound division, “I would like to fight those guys, they are stacked. They all look like a big challenge. One day I want to fight them but right now I’m concentrated on other stuff.”