It was a tough night for Gegard Mousasi at Fight Night 50. He walked to the cage as a UFC title hopeful, then left with a loss on the ledger and a much tougher road to gold at the end of the night.
The loss was particularly stinging in that it came against a man he'd beaten once already, Ronaldo Souza, and it was violently one-sided. Souza ragdolled him with relative ease, disrespecting his stand-up and romping to a guillotine choke in the third round.
Even with that considered, though, the UFC seems keen to have Mousasi fight as a middleweight. Though the results have been mixed, it would likely be worth his while to stick it out for at least one more fight to see if he can't get back on track at 185.
With that in mind, here are three possibilities for his next time out.
Thales Leites
Leites is enjoying something of a resurgence since rejoining the UFC. He's won four straight there, and seven in a row overall, and would very likely be interested in trying to add a scalp of Mousasi's name value to his collection.
For Mousasi, it would be a step down from the Souzas and Lyoto Machidas of the world, the ultra-elite talents that have troubled him to this point in time. He needs that right now—not because he doesn't have elite skill but instead because he needs to find his footing to stay at the top of the division.
Either way, a contender is born out of this one.
CB Dollaway
Dollaway is a similar option to Leites, a developing contender who could use a true test against a man on the fringes of the middleweight elite. That's what Mousasi is, and he needs a fight to test his mettle himself, so it's a reasonable option.
Mousasi has also shown a continuing issue with being outwrestled, and a training camp devoted to improving his takedown defense and ability to get up from the canvas might serve him well on the road back toward the top of the heap.
Another one that helps create a contender regardless of the outcome.
Costas Philippou
Noticing a theme here?
With so many middleweights booked for fights, the options for Mousasi are in the lower half of the top 10 or even the fringes of that list, and most of those guys are coming off of wins.
The caveat is that, though they're winners, they've never been in there with men on Mousasi's level, and Mousasi needs a man on his level to prove he's not on the way down. That's why Philippou, much like the other two suggestions, makes some sense.
Stylistically, the Long Island native is an excellent matchup for Mousasi thanks to years of boxing and an improved grappling game. Though he's only 1-2 in his last three fights, he's coming off of a very impressive win over Lorenz Larkin and could lay claim to a bout with a bigger name as a result.
Mousasi is that name should the UFC be interested in booking him in such a bout.
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