Still No Word on Gegard Mousasi's Next Opponent

by Zak Woods on Oct 5, 2009 4:09 PM EDT in Interviews Comment 11 comments

Derek Bolender of MMA Mania talked to Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi confirmed that he will be on the November 7th CBS fight card. When it comes to his opponent, well that's another story,

MMA Mania: Has your opponent been confirmed? If so, who are you fighting?

Gegard Mousasi: No, nothing yet.

MMA Mania: Out of Paulo Filho, Mike Whitehead, or possibly Ricardo Arona, who would you say is most deserving of the opportunity to fight you for the light heavyweight belt?

Gegard Mousasi: I don't know. It's not up to me to think who deserves it or not. I just concentrate on winning my fights.

Despite Derek's best name-dropping efforts we still have no idea who Mousasi will fight.

Filho, Whitehead and Arona are all possibilities but WKR believes that there is a dark horse candidate that isn't getting much play, Akihiro Gono. Gono may be on a three fight losing streak but he holds a victory over Mousasi and now fights for Sengoku. Strikeforce could easily sell a revenge fight between Gegard and Akihiro, which could be a coming out a party for Mousasi on network television.

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What a bummer that such a well round, up and commer has no opponents to face. I am hoping he can fly through his current contract and get over to the UFC ASAP to face the best 205’rs in the world.

Jon Jones if he can get through Hammil would be a interesting fight for Gegard.

by Norm78 on Oct 5, 2009 4:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

now there is a dream fight

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Oct 5, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Having no one of quality to fight will be very good or very bad for him. If he wins these fights (which he should) then he can really pad his record and most importantly increase his reputation/popularity in the U.S. This will provide him with a big bargaining chip when his Strikeforce contract is out.

However, as with most people/teams that have easy roads a loss hurts a lot (the boise state and BYU’s of the world). Hopefully he can run through Strikeforce and then head over to the UFC where the light heavyweight talent pool is sooo much deeper.

"That's an Awfully Big Mustache"-Frank Drebin

watchkalibrun.com

by Zach Krantz on Oct 5, 2009 4:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was trying to think of just one 205’r not in the UFC that I would like to see Gegard fight and the only person I could think of was Mo Lawal. It might be too much of a step up in competition for King, but stylistically could make for an interesting fight. Is King still under contract with Sengoku?

by Norm78 on Oct 5, 2009 5:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Filho would be a good fight for them. He is a top 20 light heavyweight, his record makes him look better to the casual fan, and Mousasi accused him of roiding. That could be a huge marketing campaign to build a rivalry.

"That's an Awfully Big Mustache"-Frank Drebin

watchkalibrun.com

by Zach Krantz on Oct 5, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

if he came to fight in the U.S. again

"That's an Awfully Big Mustache"-Frank Drebin

watchkalibrun.com

by Zach Krantz on Oct 5, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I personally have zero interest in that fight or in seeing Filho fight in general. Career-wise they are going in two completely different directions.

by Norm78 on Oct 5, 2009 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wouldn’t a rematch with Mousasi and Gono be a tough sell considering Mousasi has moved up a weight class since they fought, is on a big winning streak, and Gono has moved down a weight class and is on a losing streak?

I will say I’d rather see that on CBS then see Mousasi fight Filho who has no business being on National TV after that pathetic fight he had at Bitetti combat with Alex Shoenauer.
One of the worst fights I’ve seen in awhile.

by scrambledeggs on Oct 5, 2009 7:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was thinking a catch-weight bout. I mean SF doesnt have issues with that. The fight doesnt have to be for the LHW title

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Oct 5, 2009 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OK

makes more sense now. Has there been any rumor of Gono by the way or is this more just a case of what you want to see?

by scrambledeggs on Oct 5, 2009 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just some speculation on my part. Gono is available (co-promote), the fight could be sold as rematch and you don’t risk one of your burgeoning stars and would most likely be a catch-weight. So it fits the bill of what SF has done lately.

That being said, the names that Derek through out there are the short list.

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Oct 6, 2009 9:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs