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To say Gegard Mousasi's Bellator debut did not go according to plan would be an understatement.
The highly touted UFC defector was the favorite to beat Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 185 last Friday, and win Mousasi did. But it was a close thing, aided by some questionable judging according to some. Things started to go pretty wrong for Gegard in the first round when Shlemenko caught him with a huge left hand to the eye that left him semi-blind for the rest of the fight.
"He punched me right in the eye in the first minute so I was fighting on instinct, trying to survive," Mousasi told the MMA Hour. "I was fighting with one eye for almost three rounds so it didn’t go the way I wanted, but a win is a win. To the haters, they can suck it. I have a pretty long one, they can all get in line and suck it.”
The eye injury was so bad that he's still having a hard time getting around in every day life.
“I’m trying to survive, I cannot see anything,” Mousasi said. “Yesterday, I was walking in New York, I was stumbling, I couldn’t even walk. I fought three rounds. I don’t know what people are talking about. Maybe they should go instead and fight in the cage. They’re sitting behind the computer eating potatoes and they have all their opinions, but let them do that.”
Gegard was once known for his stoic demeanor, but he let it all hang out during this interview.
“I’m not pissed off,” he declared. “I don’t care! I’m going to eat lobster. I’m going to sit in my farm, drive my tractor and my car. Who cares about these guys? I made my money. I have a better life than all of these bums. If I win my next fight, they’re all going to forget the last one. That’s how the memory of these idiots work. They have short memory. They’re like goldfish or something.”
Considering Shlemenko broke Mousasi’s orbital bone, it could be a while before he returns back to the Bellator cage ... more than enough time for the goldfish fans out there to forget this slightly less polished performance than we’re used to.
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