UFC 210 co-headliner Gegard Mousasi: Chris Weidman predictable, 'always the same'

BUFFALO, N.Y. – It isn’t Chris Weidman’s back-to-back losses that Gegard Mousasi thinks will give him an advantage against the former champ.

It’s deeper than that. Mousasi (41-6-2 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets ex-middleweight champ Weidman (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the UFC 210 co-main event on Saturday, and the Iran-born Dutchman believes what he’s seen from Weidman tells the story.

“I studied tapes, and he always fights the same way: He comes, he pressures, looking for the takedowns,” Mousasi told MMAjunkie today. “He doesn’t shoot when he goes back – so that’s an advantage we’re going to have to take.”

UFC 210 takes place Saturday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Mousasi believes Weidman’s strong wrestling background is all fine and good, but when it comes to the overall fight game, he won’t have the edge.

“My standup is better, and this is no wrestling fight,” Mousasi said. “I worked a lot on my takedown defense – I don’t need to be a wrestler. I just need to defend it. This is MMA – this is very different from wrestling. I’m expecting a tough fight. If he makes mistakes and I can finish him, I’ll do that. He has heavy hands – he’s not afraid to throw punches.

“He’s going to make it difficult, but I’m way to technical for him. The longer the fight goes in the standup, the worse he’s going to do. He’s going to do good in the first couple minutes, but even an amateur can box for a couple rounds with a pro. I’m confident in my game plan for what I’m going to do.”

If Mousasi can walk away with a win over the former champ, it’ll give him five straight wins – and three straight losses for Weidman. Overall, Mousasi has won six of his past seven. The only blemish was a second-round knockout loss to Uriah Hall in Japan, and that was a fight he owned in the first round before getting caught.

Five wins in a row, he believes, should have him knocking on the door of a title shot – if not for current champion Michael Bisping putting his belt on the line against the unretiring Georges St-Pierre, a former welterweight champ. The Bisping vs. St-Pierre fight has left middleweights like Ronaldo Souza and Yoel Romero on hold – which means Mousasi can’t get ahead of them.

“I deserve (a title shot) simply because I have a whole history behind me, and if I beat Weidman I definitely deserve it,” he said. You have ‘Jacare’ and Yoel Romero there. If the UFC hadn’t made the (title) fight with (Bisping) and Dan Henderson, or the ‘GSP’ fight, they already would’ve fought and it would be my chance. Now I have to wait (and) risk everything.”

For more from Mousasi, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 210, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

view original article >>