Gegard Mousasi enters Bellator 264 with a tough task ahead of him: John Salter.
Salter may not have a lot of flash, or trash talk, but his steady ascent through the middleweight division has brought him to a title shot against Mousasi, who regained the belt last October with a unanimous decision win over Douglas Lima.
While Mousasi (47-7-2) has the title defense on his mind, he wasn’t against talking other options at this week’s Bellator 264 media day.
For one, there’s the Paul brothers lurking out in the boxing world. Celebrity boxing is all the rage at the moment thanks to the Youtube personalities. Either brother is a match-up Mousasi would entertain.
“I would definitely take the fight if they would think of me— they can pick the opponent. If they say ‘come fight,’ I wouldn’t say no for sure,” Mousasi stated.
Jake Paul is currently booked into a match-up with Tyron Woodley, and previously knocked out Woodley’s teammate, Ben Askren. Logan Paul recently competed in an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather, whose boxing skills dwarfed the social media celebrity.
Meanwhile, there’s Salter to contend with Friday, in the first title defense of Mousasi’s second reign as Bellator middleweight champion. Though Mousasi doesn’t tend to think about his fights as title defenses.
“To be honest, the first time I fought for the belt, it was a different feeling. It was my goal for a long time,” he stated. “Against Douglas Lima or John Salter, I just look at them as my opponent’s. So I never talk about defending the belt, it’s just focus on my opponent. Because on paper, the belt is on the line, but if you step in the cage, there’s not a belt waiting there. You don’t see a belt, so you just focus on the opponent.”
Bellator 264 takes place this Friday, August 13 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Gegard Mousasi faces John Salter in the main event.
