Issue 174

December 2018

The Dutch middleweight champ on fighting, partying and being a cookie monster.

You defended your middleweight title and completely dominated Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald at Bellator 206. At what point in the fight did you know it was really going your way?

I knew it from the first minute. I knew it was going my way. I was keeping him at distance. I was hitting him with straight punches.

I was keeping him on the outside. I was making him have to shoot in or try to go for takedowns and make mistakes. I thought it was going to be a one or two round fight because I knew my strength would be a factor, with in the clinch or from top position. The fight went exactly as we planned, actually.

You demonstrated every aspect of the fight game. The first round you picked him apart on the feet with the jab and the right hand. In the second round you completely dominated him on the ground and eventually got the mount and ended it with hellacious punches and elbows. What were your emotions when the finish came?

Just relief. You have been working for a fight for two or three months. After the job is done it’s just relief. Afterwards, I wasn’t really happy, sitting in the locker room. I usually am, but I felt bad for Rory. I heard that he broke his nose again. I like Rory a lot. We don’t want to injure my opponents. Later on I got drunk and I felt good anyway.

What were the details of that nice post-fight celebration?

It wasn’t too exciting. It was a bunch of friends, maybe twenty guys, getting drinks in my room. Then security came and we had to shut it down. We were already drunk at that time anyway. We drank until two or three o’clock in the morning. I guess the neighbours couldn’t sleep.

The fight was billed as a super fight of sorts. Did you see it that way or do you not get caught up in that talk?

I didn’t really think about it that much. Of course, when we got closer to the fight people were talking about it. Then I got the feeling that it was an important fight. To me, to be honest, it was just another fight. I have faced so many opponents that I knew Rory didn’t present anything I haven’t seen before. As far as a super fight, people make it bigger than it is. For me it was just another fight. Whether there is a belt on the line or not, I just see it as another fight.

Was there some thought that Rory wasn’t going to come up in weight and ruin your good time?

I knew I had the advantages. I knew I was the bigger guy. A. I knew I was faster than him and I could keep him at distance. I knew my advantages. There have been guys who have made the jump up and done very well. Kelvin Gastelum has done well in a move up to middleweight. Robert Whittaker was a welterweight and now he is the middleweight champion. We saw GSP go up and beat the champion. So, welterweight or middleweight, it is still a fight. I had ten pounds on him but that ten pounds didn’t make me the winner.

In the lead up you said it was your goal was to make him panic. Do you feel that he panicked in there?

I hit him with hard jabs. Those were really hard jabs, to be honest. Of course, you don’t want to get hit a lot with those punches. He did that roll and I think that was a desperate move. It all worked out for me. 

You stand at 3-0 in Bellator and an eight fight win streak overall. You have a short list of guys you feel are deserving adversaries. Does Rafael Lovato, Jr. or Lyoto Machida deserve the chance more at the moment?

Yeah Lovato is next. He is undefeated. He has earned his shot. Machida, if he wins his fight, he could be next. Ryan Bader is up there. Welterweight is an option. That might be a last fight option, to just go fight for the belt one time.

I would like to have that on my resume. There are always options. My manager is contacting Bellator now to see what is next. I’m not going to wait until Machida fights and then wait four more months. That would keep me out for six months. At the moment, Lovato is next. I want to keep busy and keep fighting.

What are your thoughts on the Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen scrap at Bellator 208?

It looked like the old Fedor, with big punches, hip throws and ground and pound. He looked like the old Fedor that we knew from Pride. It was nice to see that.

Bellator has you doing the rounds in the lead up to the fight. Part of the tour was a stop at Facebook Headquarters. What was Facebook HQ like?

It was nice. It was nothing special. It looked like college. There was a lot of free food. It was nice to see but it was just a big building. There was an arcade room. The workers there get treated well. It’s the new way, like Google. They treat their employees very well. You can eat, work out, they have transportation. It was nice to see the company provide for their employees. 

You mentioned food. I hear you are a big fan of cookies. What cookie is your favorite?

Usually, it has to have chocolate in it. I’m not that di cult. I will eat anything that is not good for me.

I know you are a big proponent of clean fighters and the work USADA has done in the sport. How happy are you with the progress at this juncture?

If a kid looks up to a guy that looks like Hulk Hogan and fights that way, they think that they have to do that to be successful. It’s not just the athletes and their health, it’s the kids that look up to them. If you show them a bad example, then that’s bad. We have seen certain fighters lose five in a row after USADA came into the sport. It shows what kind of effect steroids have on certain people. What can I say? There are plenty of examples of this.

We could speak of your accomplishments for an hour. It’s hard to believe you have been fighting for as long as you have. With that, the talk of retirement seeps into the conversation. You have so many interests outside of fighting, what would a retired Gegard Mousasi’s day look like?

I would coach a little bit. I would love to be a part of that with the right fighters. I would be involved with charity. I would love to do some charity in Armenia in kids’ sports.

I would open a steak restaurant for myself, so I can eat there. There are things I can do but I don’t have any plans ahead of me. The first year will be just relaxing, eating and getting chubby. I will go from there.