Leading up to UFC On Fuel TV 9, Light Heavyweight Gegard Mousasi was scheduled to make his UFC debut in a highly anticipated bout with real title shot implications. Unfortunately for him and his opponent, Alexander Gustafsson was forced to withdrawal from the fight only days before the event due to a cut suffered in training. Instead, Mousasi was matched against Gus’s teammate Ilir Latifi. Mousasi won the fight handily, though maybe not as spectacularly as fans would have liked.
Prior to the fight, Gegard had said he wanted to pursue a championship run at 205 lbs. before considering any change in division. However, less than a month after the event he seems open to the idea if he gets a high-profile opponent in his UFC Middleweight debut. Ariel Helwani reported on UFC Tonight:
I spoke with his manager Nima Safapour and he told me that they like the idea of moving down to middleweight. He said he wants to talk to Zuffa, to the fans, and if they’re interested, they’ll consider going down. He said they can make the cut easily and want a top-five opponent. They also told me Anderson Silva is on their radar, so stay tuned for that.
It will probably be a while before Mousasi and his team decide either way. Following his fight against Latifi, Gegard revealed that he suffered a knee injury that would require surgery prior to the fight. As of yet, he’s released no expected return date from the injury. When asked about it, Safapour said it was a “personal matter.”