Gegard Mousasi Sets Time Limit on His Fighting Career at Middleweight

Gegard Mousasi doesn’t have that much time left as a middleweight.

Now that might sound like a strange statement considering Mousasi is preparing for a showdown with Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho in May but he’s not exactly walking away from the division should he win the belt.

Instead, Mousasi says that after signing a six-fight deal with Bellator last year — with five fights currently left on his contract — that he’s committed to becoming the 185-pound champion and then defending the belt.

It’s long term where Mousasi says he no longer wants to put the wear and tear on his body going through weight cuts to get down to 185 pounds that will eventually see him explore options in different divisions.

“I’m getting older so after this maybe [a fight against] Rory MacDonald and then go up to light heavyweight. I have five fights left on my contract and after that I want to do fun fights,” Mousasi said. “I want to peak in these five fights, get the wins and then I’m going to slow down. I’m going to be around 35 [years old] by then. I’m going to maybe take one fight a year. Take fights that are fun. Maybe fight heavyweight. Heavyweight against Quinton Jackson, who cares. Stuff like that.

“I’m not going cut weight anymore after these five fights. Because I’ve been doing this a long time. Not now but eventually I’m looking for the big fights.”

Throughout his career, Mousasi has competed at both heavyweight and light heavyweight while taking fights against opponents such as Mark Hunt, Ovince Saint-Preux and Ilir Latifi.

Of course, Mousasi realizes that he’ll be giving up some size by not fighting at middleweight any longer but he loves the idea of getting involved in big, marketable super fights like the matchups that were always put together when he was competing in Japan.

Mousasi hopes that’s where his future lies with Bellator as well after he wraps up this current contract.

“You have a lot of star power in Bellator, big names,” Mousasi said. “The whole heavyweight tournament is filled with big names. Big names are out there. I think Bellator is growing.

“First this title, Rory MacDonald or light heavyweight title fight and something fun. I’m looking forward to that.”