After the last few years at light heavyweight, it looks like Gegard has seen the light and will take his talents to middleweight, where he belongs. As a middleweight, Mousasi went 24-2-1 with his only losses coming to Akihiro Gono and Petras Markivcius. Then, Gegard moved to light heavyweight, took part in the Super Hulk Tournament, defeating Mark Hunt at heavyweight, then won the light heavyweight Strikeforce strap, losing it to King Mo, but never losing again. In fact, he has a 9-1-1 lhw record (remember that ridiculous Keith Jardine draw????). Now the 27-year -old is reevaluating his torso, and he’s come to the conclusion that middleweight may be best for him. Gegard’s achilles heel has long been his wrestling, so maybe he thinks his lack of takedown defense will effect him more at light heavyweight than middleweight. Makes sense.
He gave MMAFighting these quotes:
“There’s a big chance that I will go to middleweight, it all depends on the fights that I’m going to get. If I’m going to get a big name at middleweight, I’ll probably go down.
“It’s all about matchups. Let’s say they’re going to give me somebody like Vitor Belfort that’s maybe a contender. That’s the kind of fight I want.”
“To be honest, I believe middleweight will be much better for me, I will give my opponent less advantages. But at the end of the day it’s all about skills. That doesn’t mean that size advantages always win, but like I’ve said, in the highest level, you don’t want to give the slightest edge to your opponent. Everyone is skilled, everyone has abilities. So that’s why I think middleweight will be much more suitable to my body frame.
“It’s all about the opportunity, I really want to go for this belt. I believe that style-wise, matchup-wise, I matchup much better against Anderson Silva than Jon Jones, but it doesn’t mean that I’m scared to fight at 205. Jon Jones is skilled and so is Anderson Silva, but at the highest levels, when you’re competing against the top levels, you don’t want to give anybody an advantage. So I don’t want to give a weight and size difference advantage also. That’s why I said middleweight.”
“My focus is to get to the belt as soon as possible, I‘ve done the route of [waiting]. I don’t have those things that other fighters complain about, jetlag and days off. I don’t have those issues. I never have. So I’m just looking for big fights.
“The fight I had last (Ilir Latifi), the guy wasn’t known, he wasn’t ranked. It doesn’t mean anything. But I have a history. I only haven’t fought in UFC, but I have a history. People come and get immediate title shots. I don’t think that’s going to be the case for me, but I’ve beaten champions, ex-champions. So it’s all about one, maybe two big names and then I hope to get a title shot.”
“I think size-wise, the difference wouldn’t be much. Also matchup-wise, I think Anderson is more of a striker, Jon Jones is more of a takedowns guy. So I think matchup-wise and also size-wise [it makes more sense]. But I don’t have any problem fighting Jon Jones either. So before people make something else out of it and say, ‘Ah, he’s already losing’ — I’m confident. I’m a fighter. If I don’t have any confidence I can win a fight, then I shouldn’t be fighting. So it’s not about that. It’s just being smart.
“I fought Mark Hunt, you know? I fought K-1 at heavyweight. My last fights, Mike Kyle was much bigger. The guy that I fought, Latifi, he cut 20, 22 pounds before that. He was also much heavier. Size doesn’t mean a lot. But like I said, on the highest level guys are much better, so you don’t want to give any advantage. That’s what I’m saying.”
Choosing Anderson Silva as your goal over Jon Jones is a scary proposition, but if anyone could do it, it’s Gegard. I’ve loved watching him fight for years, and hopefully he can make a real mark on whatever division he chooses.
