Gegard Mousasi believes he can defeat Israel Adesanya: “I feel like I have a great chance and I can win”
Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi believes he can defeat Israel Adesanya, saying “I feel like I have a great chance and I can win.”
Mousasi defeated Austin Vanderford via first-round TKO at Bellator 275 on Friday in Dublin, Ireland. It was one of the best performances of Mousasi’s Bellator career as he went into the cage and utterly dominated Vanderford en route to a quick stoppage. The win improved Mousasi’s Bellator record to 7-1, and he now has a 49-7-2 overall MMA record. Mousasi has been one of the best MMA fighters in the world for the better part of 20 years now, and even at age 36, he continues to win fights.
Mousasi is still under contract with Bellator, so his next title defense will come under his current promotion’s banner. That being said, the thought of a fight between Mousasi and UFC champion Adesanya is certainly exciting. While Adesanya is generally regarded as the best middleweight in the world — and for good reason, given how dominant he has been in the UFC middleweight division — there is absolutely an argument that Mousasi isn’t far behind him. In fact, Mousasi believes he can defeat Adesanya if he gets the chance, although he sees the chance of a cross-promotion fight as slim.
Speaking to the media following Bellator 275, Mousasi said he believes he can defeat Adesanya if he gets the chance to fight him. However, he equates the chance of that to the same as being Santa Claus.
“I’ve trained with guys that have fought Israel Adesanya. They did well against or won against Adesanya, and I’m better in the standup, so of course, I feel like I have a great chance and I can win. But talking about it is like talking about how I want to be Santa Claus. It’s not possible,” Mousasi said.
Who do you think would win a UFC/Bellator cross-promotion fight between Gegard Mousasi and Israel Adesanya?
