Gegard Mousasi is looking to branch out even further in his combat sports career by pursuing a boxing match against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Mousasi, who is the current Bellator middleweight champion, has a long history of success across multiple combat sports. A former Strikeforce and Dream champion, Mousasi also owns an undefeated kickboxing record and was a amateur national boxing champion in the Netherlands back in 2001. Mousasi even previously considered trying out for the Dutch national boxing team back in 2012, but ultimately chose his MMA career instead. Now, 10 years later, Mousasi is once again showing his interest in the sweet science.
“Unfortunately I’ve fought twice the last two years,” Mousasi said on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour. “I would have loved to fight more but it’s the pandemic. They’re gonna keep me busy this year. Three times, and I want to fight Anderson Silva in boxing. They are going to push me for this fight. You, Anderson, don’t run away from me.”
Silva is a long-standing boxer. After his departure from UFC in 2020,, “The Spider”, he has rekindled his career and returned to the squared circle. Silva boxed in 2021, twice, taking a win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, former WBC middleweight champion. He then defeated Tito Ortiz 82 second.
Although Silva and Mousasi fought for a while in the UFC, they never crossed paths in MMA. Mousasi feels that the right time has come for these legends to meet, given Silva’s revival in boxing and Bellator’s partnership.
“Now it’s up to him,” Mousasi said. “I think it’s not very interesting [to fight him in MMA]. He has been defeated in MMA, but he is still winning boxing. It’s different, and I find it more enjoyable.
” I threw the idea out to Scott [Coker], and Showtime. It’s something I have been advocating .”
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Before he can start focusing on the sweet science, though, Mousasi has to handle some MMA business first. This Friday, Mousasi defends his Bellator middleweight title against Austin Vanderford in the main event of Bellator 275 at the 3Arena in Dublin.
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