{"id":276964,"date":"2018-05-23T09:40:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T16:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=276964"},"modified":"2018-05-23T09:40:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T16:40:06","slug":"gegard-mousasi-is-more-nervous-than-normal-for-middleweight-title-fight-with-rafael-carvalho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gegard-mousasi\/gegard-mousasi-is-more-nervous-than-normal-for-middleweight-title-fight-with-rafael-carvalho\/","title":{"rendered":"Gegard Mousasi is ‘more nervous than normal’ for middleweight title fight with Rafael Carvalho"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Friday night, in the main event of Bellator 200<\/a>, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi will challenge Rafael Carvalho for Bellator’s middleweight championship. The bout was originally expected to serve as the card’s co-headliner, but was elevated to the headlining spot when Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s rematch was nixed due to injury.<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the fact that Mousasi will enter this fight more than 50 professional fights behind him, he’s apparently feeling quite nervous about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more nervous than normal, especially coming off a fight like my previous fight [a close decision win over Alexander Shlemenko],\u201d Mousasi told reporters ahead of Bellator 200 (via MMAjunkie<\/a>). \u201cBut I know once the cage door closes, everything goes automatic. So I don\u2019t worry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mousasi is dealing with a few pre-fight jitters, he’s confident he’s possesses the tools required to deal with Bellator’s fearsome middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of advantages, because he\u2019s not a wrestler,\u201d Mousasi said. \u201cHe\u2019s not really a jiu-jitsu guy. He doesn\u2019t push the pace, so it\u2019s an advantage for me. I have my game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mousasi is also confident he can contend with Carvalho’s significant physical advantages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard he has difficulties with weight cuts, because he\u2019s so big,\u201d Mousasi said. \u201cStrength won\u2019t be a factor in this fight, I believe. So speed is on my side. I feel like I will be the stronger fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to his decision win over Alexander Shlemenko, which marked his debut under the Bellator banner, Gegard Mousasi defeated Chris Weidman, Uriah Hall, Vitor Belfort,\u00a0Thiago Santos, and Thales Leites, all in the UFC’s Octagon. He hasn’t lost since September of 2015, when he succumbed to a wild, upset loss to Hall. He’s currently\u00a043\u20136\u20132 as a professional mixed martial artist.<\/p>\n

Do you think Gegard Mousasi will capture middleweight gold at Bellator 200 this weekend?<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 5\/23\/2018. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Friday night, in the main event of Bellator 200, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi will challenge Rafael Carvalho for Bellator’s middleweight championship. The bout was originally expected to serve as the card’s co-headliner, but was elevated to the headlining spot when Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":272257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10349],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGegard Mousasi is 'more nervous than normal' for middleweight title fight with Rafael Carvalho | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gegard-mousasi\/gegard-mousasi-is-more-nervous-than-normal-for-middleweight-title-fight-with-rafael-carvalho\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gegard Mousasi is 'more nervous than normal' for middleweight title fight with Rafael Carvalho | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Friday night, in the main event of Bellator 200, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi will challenge Rafael Carvalho for Bellator’s middleweight championship. The bout was originally expected to serve as the card’s co-headliner, but was elevated to the headlining spot when Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gegard-mousasi\/gegard-mousasi-is-more-nervous-than-normal-for-middleweight-title-fight-with-rafael-carvalho\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-23T16:40:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Gegard-Mousasi-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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