Gegard Mousasi Recalls Aftermath of Win Over Alexander Shlemenko, Talks Title Fight With Carvalho

Gegard Mousasi spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 about his win over Alexander Shlemenko and more. Highlights are below:

On the aftermath of the fight: “They brought me (the the hospital) with the stretcher. I wasn’t able to move. I had my doctor with me. I had my other doctor, that did my knee surgery. They were talking about my eye; I thought I’d lost my eye. For a long time, it wasn’t certain what was wrong in my eye. People don’t see those parts. It was a tough time, I can tell you that. Still, sometimes, when I look in the mirror, my eye shape is a little bit different. And yeah, it bothers me. But this is fighting.”

On his eye issue after the fight: “The pupil is a little bit bigger than the other one. But that’s only in the sunshine. I don’t know. It’s not the same anymore. After my career, I can get it fixed. This sport doesn’t make me any prettier. Not that I was pretty (before), but it’s not a good thing.”

On the fight: “Of course, going into the fight I felt that I was the better fighter. But after the first minute, he broke my orbital and it changed the whole fight. There was no gameplan. Once he hit me, I knew my eye was it. So I grabbed him, I took him down. I was desperately looking for the submission, because I knew the fight could have been stopped. I knew I had a bad injury, so it changed the whole fight. It made the fight very even, I believe.”

On people who think he didn’t win the fight: “To these people that say I lost, I can tell them I will never give Shlemenko a rematch and they can suck it. [laughs] I’m going to take this victory to my grave and I don’t care. I won. Like I said, the guy is tough. I’m fighting the champion next. People don’t know him that well, but he’s the champion for a reason. Sometimes, fans, they’re not well-educated. Sometimes, they’re children, I don’t know. They look like 14-year-old people that write on social media. I don’t know how seriously I have to take that.”

On getting the win but taking the injury with it: “I got the injury; it’s permanent. Some things you can’t change. But I’d rather have taken the loss than get the eye injury. From an injury like this, sometimes, it’s a difficult way to come back. The loss, the next fight you can come back from the loss. Injuries are the worst. But every time you step in the cage, you risk your health. And that’s what I learned on this fight. It’s a dangerous sport and you have to be careful.”

On his next fight against Rafael Carvalho: “He’s a champion for a reason. The last loss that he had was a long time ago. I know he’s confident going into the fight. He’s a southpaw. Like I said, a lot of fighters don’t get credit for what they’ve done. I know he’s a tough opponent. I feel like he wants to prove something. Obviously, fighting me, he can show that he’s the champion for a reason. It’s going to be a good fight. Obviously, I feel I’m the better fighter. I think everybody thinks that. If I didn’t feel like that, then I shouldn’t fight the guy. We’ll see how it goes. It’s a fight.”

On the opportunies he gets with a title win: “If I win the belt, the door opens for a light heavyweight fight, a superfight. This fight is very important for me. With this fight, a lot of things, good things, will come.”