Rafael Carvalho Says Gegard Mousasi Doesn’t Deserve Next Title Shot
Bellator MMA Middleweight Champion Rafael Carvalho defends the gold against UFC veteran Alessio Sakara at Bellator 190.
UFC veteran Gegard Mousasi made his promotion debut at Bellator 185 and the current middleweight champion says the fighter doesn’t deserve the next shot at the middleweight gold.
"I think he should do another fight first,” Carvalho said to MMA Fighting. "But I believe this is not the company’s plans. I think they will give him a title shot right away, but I believe he should fight one more time. In a possible fight against Mousasi, I see myself as the champion. I respect his history, he’s an experienced fighter, but if he fights the way he fought I have everything to win and remain champion. I can’t consider only one fight, of course, every fight is different, but he has everything to lose if he fights me like that."
Mousasi last held gold in the Strikeforce promotion, where he was the light heavyweight champion. Carvalho also believes that at Bellator 185, it was Alexander Shlemenko who should’ve gotten the decision win instead of Mousasi.
"In my opinion, Mousasi lost,” Carvalho said. "He won the first round, okay, but got beat up in the second and third rounds."
Bellator 190 takes place on Saturday, December 9 from the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy with Rafael Carvalho and Alessio Sakara headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs via tape delay on Spike TV.
