If all goes as planned, Gegard
Mousasi will have an active 2022.
The Armenian-born Dutchman authored an emphatic middlweight title
defense in the Bellator 275 headliner, defeating Austin
Vanderford via technical knockout 1:25 into Round 1 at the
3Arena in Dublin on Friday. Mousasi has been victorious in seven of
eight promotional appearances, with his only defeat coming via
majority decision in a title bout at Bellator 223.
The former Strikeforce champion admitted at the Bellator 275
post-fight press conference that he entered the fight against
Vanderford more confident than he has been in quite some time.
“I was hungry,” Mousasi said. “I was more determined than him and
I’m in my prime. I feel I’m the best middleweight in the world
right now. I never said that because I never thought that I was the
best. But I told everyone this training camp, that this day, I was
the best middleweight. I don’t know about tomorrow, but today I was
the best.”
Now 36 years old, Mousasi has an idea of how he’d like the rest of
his year to go — but the future beyond that is uncertain.
“Middle of the year, I’m going to fight again,” Mousasi said.
“Then, at the end of the year, I’m going to fight again. I’m going
to sit down and evaluate where my career is going. Then, I’m going
to decide if I’m going to continue or not. I’ll have two more
fights that I’ll concentrate on.
“Those guys who think they can beat me, they have something coming.
I’m more confident than ever. Anyone who comes, they’re going to
get it.”
Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed that the plan is to keep
Mousasi busy for the remainder of 2022.
“We’re going to fight him a lot,” Coker said. “Gegard is going to
fight, I think — I bet you, the way he’s looking — probably a
minimum of three times this year.”