Bellator London: Gegard Mousasi would ‘love to fight’ UFC’s Robert Whittaker but focused on Rafael Lovato Jr

Tony Mogan20 June 2019

Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi would ‘love to fight’ UFC’s Robert Whittaker but remains solely focused on defending his middleweight title against Rafael Lovato Jr in London.

Mousasi is back in the capital ahead of Saturday’s card at the SSE Arena, Wembley - the same venue where he won his world title with a TKO win over Rafael Carvalho in May 2018.

The 33-year-old meets undefeated Jiu-Jitsu specialist Lovato Jr in a bout that was originally scheduled to take place in January before a back injury sidelined the Dutchman.

And after a patient wait, Mousasi is eager to get things over with.

“It’s just another fight, I know what I can do, the training has given me confidence,” Mousasi told Standard Sport.

In Pictures | Bellator returns to London | 20/06/19

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“Waiting is the most boring part of the fight. Fighting is not that difficult, I go fight on Saturday and then I go home; it’s easy.

"But coming here waiting, the tension, the build-up… it makes it a little bit more nerve-wracking than it actually is.”

Mousasi is a veteran of 53 professional bouts, winning 45 of those during a hugely decorated career that now has him widely recognised as one of the sport’s best middleweights.

While he is eager for fight night to arrive now, he admits he had to be patient when injury struck earlier this year.

“It was a nerve block, not a hernia or something like that,” Mousasi explained.

“But if I trained it would get worse. I just needed rest. There was no way I could have made the fight, I tried my best but there was no way I could have made that fight.

“I didn’t fight for six months but when you are in uncertainty, you don’t enjoy that free time, it’s not like you are having a great time off. It was a not a good time.”

Mousasi insists he feels “at home” with Bellator following a four-year stint with UFC and is now halfway through a six-fight deal he signed with the promotion in 2017.

In recent weeks, Bellator president Scott Coker has teased MMA fans over the potential of cross-promotional fights with their UFC rivals.

UFC has traditionally distanced itself from the possibility of pitting their fighters against the competition, however.

While Mousasi is eager to test himself against his UFC counterpart, middleweight champion Whittaker, he realises it is unlikely to happen anytime soon – although he is open to other cross-promotional bouts, perhaps with ONE Championship.

“I would love to fight Whittaker but that is not going to happen. UFC is not going to do that but Bellator is open to that.

"It’s not on our side that they don’t want to do it. But ONE Championship, other organisations, I would have their belts too.”

For now, defending the belt he currently owns is the priority, predicting a second-round stoppage win over Lovato on Saturday.

"Maybe two rounds, we will go for the finish, if I am technically better than him he wont be able to go five rounds with me. But I think two rounds."

Tickets for Bellator London: Mousasi vs. Lovato Jr. are now on sale and can be purchased online from axs.com/uk and Bellator.com

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