Carvalho: Mousasi Shouldn’t Get Title Shot

At Bellator 185, Gegard Mousasi, in his firs time fighting for the company since jumping ship from the UFC, earned a close unanimous decision win over Alexander Shlemenko. All three judges scored the bout 29-28, but Mousasi took a lot of damage during the bout, and some thought his victory was undeserved.

One name in particular who thought Mousasi lost the bout to Shlemenko is Bellator’s middleweight champion, Rafael Carvalho. Carvalho tells MMA Fighting that he felt Mousasi, who broke his orbital bone during the bout, won the first round but lost the next two.

“I think he realized the Russian is not an easy opponent. Shlemenko is well-rounded, experienced, a tough fighter, so that eye injury was a big issue for him. I think [the judges] favored Mousasi because he’s one of the biggest signings in Bellator recent history. The result was unfair.”

Carvalho is scheduled to defend the Bellator Middleweight Championship against Alessio Sakara on Dec. 9 at Bellator 189 in Italy. Due to Mousasi’s need of surgery on his orbital bone, it is unknown if Mousasi will challenger the winner of the Bellator 189 title fight. If it’s up to Carvalho, however, he feels Mousasi doesn’t deserve a title fight just yet.

“In a possible fight against Mousasi, I see myself as the champion. I respect his history, he’s an experienced fighter, but if he fights the way he fought I have everything to win and remain champion. I can’t consider only one fight, of course, every fight is different, but he has everything to lose if he fights me like that.”