Former Strikeforce and DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi made his long awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut against relatively unknown Ilir Latifi last April at UFC on FUEL TV 9 after "The Dreamcatcher's" original opponent, Alexander Gustafsson, was forced out of their 205-pound collision with an eye injury.
Gegard jabbed his way to a victory against "The Sledgehammer" in Stockholm, Sweden, giving him his sixth straight win.
Currently rehabbing from a knee injury which he suffered prior to his bout against Latifi, Mousasi ponders his next move inside the Octagon. A move which could potentially take him back down to the middleweight division.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Gegard says he could easily drop the pounds to go down to middleweight, and a "big name" fight like Vitor Belfort could be just what it takes to convince him to make the switch.
He explains:
"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 match ups. 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."
But don't think for a second that Mousasi -- who once fought and defeated current heavyweight contender Mark Hunt -- is afraid to mix it up with the bigger boys at 205 pounds.
No sir, he just wants to make sure he isn't giving up size come fight night.
He shares his concerns:
"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, match-up-wise, I match-up 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."
For the Armenian, it's also about taking a faster route to the title and he believes middleweight offers that.
A win over someone as established as "The Phenom," who is currently riding high with two consecutive head kick knockout (KO) victories over Michael Bisping and most recently Luke Rockhold, would certainly help his cause.
Belfort vs. Mousasi, who wants to see it?
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