Not satisfied with his win over Lyoto Machida at Bellator 228, Gegard Mousasi vows things will be different in a potential rematch with Rafael Lovato Jr.
Los Angeles, CA — Gegard Mousasi got his revenge at Bellator 228, bringing his career series with Lyoto Machida to one win a piece.
The split decision win wasn’t always pretty, he admitted post-fight, speaking to reporters including Cageside Press. “Sometimes I sleep, and sometimes I come to fight. Next time will be different,” he vowed. “You will see a God in there, I promise you. Because I know things that other people don’t know.”
Admitting that he was “a little bit” nervous when the scores were read, Mousasi, a former Bellator middleweight champ, added “but I beat Machida at his own game. That’s his style, but I beat him anyway. I know it was a boring fight, I’m not proud of it. But at the highest stage, that little bit makes a difference. And I needed the victory.”
And split decision or not, “I felt I won all three rounds,” said Mousasi.
Having fought Machida once before, back in 2014 in the UFC, had much changed? To Mousasi, ‘The Dragon’ was a different person this week. “The first time, when I looked in his eyes, he was a little bit like a dragon,” he recalled. That fire was gone this time around. “This time, even at the staredowns, I felt he wasn’t the same guy. Maybe age, or something else. But he wasn’t himself. When I looked in his eyes, he was different than the first time I fought him.”
As for Mousasi himself, “this time I was a better fighter, with a better game plan. I knew what to expect.”
One other factor — while Mousasi accused Machida of greasing in their first meeting, “he wasn’t slippery this time.”
“I like Machida. I apologized to him after the fight,” admitted the Dutch fighter. “I’m a bad loser sometimes, I admit to that. 100%. But when I said those things, I believed it. Every time I accused someone of something, I didn’t make it up.”
The Lovato Rematch
What fans can expect next is a rematch with Rafael Lovato Jr., who defeated Mousasi for the 185lb title earlier this year. While he had floated the idea of a welterweight run, it seems that is off the table. “I could, but I’m going to kill myself. It’s not worth it,” he admitted. “Forget about welterweight. I thought about it, it’s nice, but first Lovato, and then the dream continues.”
Mousasi is looking to get back in the cage as soon as three months from now. And when that fight comes, there will be no mistake, he says. “Next fight I’m going to kill him. I swear to God, if I don’t knock him [Lovato] out, I don’t count it as a victory. Because I know what I can do, and he will die. Literally. You will see. I will knock him out, 100%. I guarantee.”
If he doesn’t, he may just call it a career, he said. “If I lose I retire, I promise you. I’m not kidding, I’m not trying to sell the fight. I know what I can do. And the next fight will be extra special, because I’m going to be an extra special boy.”
Much of Mousasi’s disdain for the man who took the title from him isn’t about the loss, but the contention that Lovato was on something.
“That guy looked like a horse. You guys are reporters, but you don’t even report on that, Mousasi exclaimed. “You can see a difference between like an [old] picture of him, then he looks muscular when he’s 35. You guys can watch, you should report that. Take a picture, put it next to each other, it’s day and night difference.”
“There’s not even a little bit steroids, it’s monkey steroids,” he added. “You guys go check it out. I can post pictures for you guys if you want, but I’m not the reporter, you guys should go do some research.”
Reiterating that he might be a bad loser, Mousasi admitted that “I should have beat him anyway.” His head wasn’t in it during their first meeting, however. And there were missed opportunities in that fight, at Bellator 223 in June. “I hurt him in the third round, I hurt him in the fourth round. I f*cked up myself. I’m blaming myself, but the juice helped him also.”
When extra drug testing for the rematch was suggested, Mousasi responded “I don’t know. I don’t know where the fight’s going to be. I have to discuss it with my manager.” But one thing is certain, he doesn’t believe Lovato is at all natural. “He looked twice as big at the weigh-in. His nipples were hard like a woman. Watch it, I’m not kidding, I’m not trying to be funny or something. His nipples were, he could have given milk to a baby.”
Watch the wildly entertaining Bellator 228 post-fight press scrum with Gegard Mousasi above!
