In late June, Gegard Mousasi surrendered the Bellator middleweight title to Rafael Lovato Jr., losing via majority decision. Shortly after this defeat, Mousasi accused his foe of performance-enhancing drug use.
“I should have won this match even with him using PEDs,” Mousasi said on Vechtersbazen Podcast. “I told the commission that it’s clear that he was on PEDs. (The commissioner) gave me a pat on the shoulder and told me that he was going to get tested on fight day and walked away.”
Unsurprisingly, these comments from Gegard Mousasi — which did not provide much in the way of evidence to support this incendiary accusation — did not go over particularly well with fight fans.
Speaking to MMA Junkie on Wednesday, the former champion responded to the fan backlash he received after making these comments.
“I’ve done always comments about losing to certain opponents,” Mousasi said. “I cry a little bit always. I’m a crybaby sometimes. Like Uriah Hall, I said ‘lucky.’ It was not lucky, but it got me the rematch. Machida, I said he cheated. I felt like he did. You can be honest about certain people. It is what it is. Machida, I lost because he was better. I’m a realistic guy. Lovato, I said it before. I don’t think I need to repeat it. People say I’m a bad loser. Whatever.”
The good news for Gegard Mousasi is that he’ll soon have the opportunity to move past his loss to Lovato Jr., as he’s scheduled to rematch a big name in Lyoto Machida on September 28. He says he’s ready to put forth a great performance against the former UFC light heavyweight champion, who he lost to by decision in 2014.
“He was a lot better than me [at the time of the first fight], but I learned,” Mousasi said. “Sometimes with me, when I’m mentally there, I put flawless victories like ‘Mortal Kombat.’ I look really good. I look unbeatable. Like Rory (MacDonald), (Rafael) Carvalho, I beat them easy. We won Round 1 in a couple minutes. Machida, had a difficult fight with him.
“I know when I’m not in it, I f**k it up. This fight I’m in it. We’re going to go, and we’re going to fight him. We’re going to leave it all out there. If he’s better, he wins. I’m not going to cry about it. I’m going to go out and give it all.”
What do you think of these remarks from Gegard Mousasi?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/19/2019.