NEW YORK – Gegard Mousasi admits that he would rather have tried to regain his belt from the man who took it from him.
Former Bellator middleweight champion Mousasi (46-7-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) lost the title to Rafael Lovato Jr. in June 2019 via majority decision for his first loss in four years.
Mousasi was eager to run things back, vowing to knock out Lovato in a rematch, but ongoing medical issues have forced Lovato to relinquish the belt and putting the possibility of avenging the loss at least on hold.
Mousasi (46-7-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) bounced back with a win over former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida, and he will now face welterweight champ Douglas Lima for the vacant 185-pound title in May at Bellator 242.
Lima (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) is a formidable opponent but not what Mousasi wanted.
“It’s for the belt against a worthy opponent, Douglas Lima,” Mousasi told MMA Junkie. “It’s a great matchup for me, I feel, but of course I wanted to fight Lovato, but he has some health issues, so it’s not in my mind at this time. I really wanted to erase that loss, let’s say.
“I should have won that fight (against Lovato). I could have won, let’s say, and I didn’t because the way I fought I felt, it wasn’t because of the opponent. He wasn’t a lot better or anything. I felt like I didn’t perform, and that was a little bit difficult to swallow.”
Mousasi is a little familiar with Lima, having trained with him in the past, so Lima was never even on his radar as a potential future opponent. But things change.
“It was maybe one-and-a-half years ago, maybe longer even,” Mousasi said. “Never thought of fighting him. Very nice guy, humble guy, nothing but respect for him.”
Bellator 242 takes place May 9 at SAP Center in San Jose and airs on Paramount/DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
You can hear more from Mousasi in the video above.
Gegard Mousasi shifts focus from Rafael Lovato Jr. to 'worthy opponent' Douglas Lima