« Shane Carwin: Brock Lesnar won’t be fighting me any time soon | Home | Transcript of Jason “Mayhem” Miller interview on AOL Fanhouse »
Transcript of Gegard Mousasi interview with Fanhouse
By Zach Arnold | November 5, 2009
INTERVIEWER: “There’s a lot to talk to you about because uh you were supposed to fight on the DREAM card (Yokohama Arena) and mysteriously you pulled out. Can you shed some light as to why you didn’t fight on that card?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Uh, I was injured and now I’m fighting in the CBS show.”
INTERVIEWER: “What kind of injury did you sustain?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Shoulder injury.”
INTERVIEWER: “All right, well what do you think about this fight against Sokoudjou, because you were supposed to fight him in that bout, it’s not going to be for a title but he’s shocked some people in the past. What are you expecting to see from him?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “I feel he’s a dangerous opponent and people underestimate him, but I trained very well for this fight and um I’ve done everything to win the fight in my training so I hopefully its going to be a good night for me.”
INTERVIEWER: “So you didn’t grow up in the United States but I’m sure you understand the significance of fighting on CBS. What does that mean to you because obviously this is network television, it’s not cable, it’s not PPV, millions of people are going to see this.”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Of course I’m going to get more people to see me so it’s more exposure for me but of course you have to perform well and so my main thing is that to fight though and eventually it doesn’t matter if CBS, Showtime, as long as you keep winning they will know you so.”
INTERVIEWER: “Why isn’t the title on the line?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “I don’t know… they didn’t ask me to defend it, they said three rounds so it’s three rounds.”
INTERVIEWER: “Does that bother you because you are the champion, wouldn’t you like to defend the title?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “No, I like to fight for the belts more to win, I don’t like to be a champion who defends these titles every time so I like to be uh I like the underdog position so I don’t like to be a champion. I like the title, but…”
INTERVIEWER: “Do you like when people underestimate you?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Yeah, it’s a better position for me and a little less pressure and no expectations so that’s much better because now people have big expectations but I’m going to do my best to win.”
INTERVIEWER: “How are you dealing with that? Because in the last few months a lot more people know who you are, a lot of people asking for interviews, uh probably asking for autographs, all that stuff, how are you dealing with this new found fame?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “I got used to it a little bit in Japan so it’s .. I’m OK, in Holland I’m not famous so it’s only when I’m in US or in Japan that people know me or recognize me but I’m normal though.”
INTERVIEWER: “Speaking of Japan, is it safe to assume that you’re going to be fighting most of your fights in the United States because you’re the Strikeforce champion? We know that you have those fights lined up in DREAM but now that you’re back here uh is it safe to assume that more, the majority of your fights be contested here for Strikeforce?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Uh, yeah, I think so and but um I’m still uh going to fight also in Japan, I just want to be um every two months I want to fight and um so yeah probably I will fight more in America now.”
INTERVIEWER: “And uh there’s a rumor that Dan Henderson might be signing with Strikeforce soon and obviously the obvious match-up would be you against him. That would be a great match-up at 205. What would think of that if Strikeforce offers you a fight against big Dan Henderson?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Uh, it’s a great fight, he’s a tough opponent, um, I don’t think he will come.”
INTERVIEWER: “Why not?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Well, they’re not going to pay him that much so… I think he’s going to stick with UFC but if he will come it’s going to be a very good fight and so… yeah, Dan Henderson’s a tough fighter so it’s going to be a…”
INTERVIEWER: “And you have said that if they do offer you Henderson you want to be shown the money, sort of speak, right?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “No, I have a contract so I have to fight but … who cares, after the contract is finished then I can ask for my money.”
INTERVIEWER: “It’s safe to assume you’ll be making more than $2,000 this time around? Because that was the number that jumped out at everyone.”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Yeah, definitely.”
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
So…it’s Strikeforce’s call on the non-title fight?
Is that what I read him saying?
Ed. — You read right.
haha, priceless answer to the first question.
I legitimately do not know what to make of that. He’s the champion…and he’s not defending his title…why? Because the promotion said they didn’t want him to?
That’s…fascinating.
He’s not defending the title probably because CBS doesn’t want the affiliate stations to cut off the broadcast if the fight goes into the 4th and 5th rounds, which would make the main event a dark match.
That sort of makes some sense. But wouldn’t it be better just to make it a title fight ahead of time and schedule it properly? I mean…it’s not like there was no time to do that. Just thinking out loud.
If that was the case, why not make Werdum/Silva a swing bout? If the two title fights go long, it misses the main telecast, but otherwise you can squeeze it in.
Personally, I’d rather see an extra two rounds of Soko/Mousasi for the title (if it comes to that) than Werdum/Silva.
I’d not mind a 5 round fight for Sokodjou/Mousasi, but then I think his “championship” is garbage and don’t really care if we have to pretend that its important to see Silva/Werdum.
Co-promotion works well when company “a” (call them Strikeforce) gets a fighter to fake an injury in order to mess up the plans for company “b” (call them DREAM) they are working with. Makes things work real smoothly in the future.
Sokodjou is literally the best contender for his Strikeforce title out there. If Sokodjou is not worthy of a title fight, then nobody outside of the UFC is.
When people talk about the UFC/Strikeforce or the networks having CONTROL, stuff like this non-title garbage is exactly why the “right deal” has to be signed. Strikeforce is at the mercy of CBS and Showtime, and the MMA suffers because of it.
Neither of these guys are the real world champion in their division, so no one suffers if this Strikeforce trinket isn’t put on the line in order to keep the fight to three rounds. There is no point in talk about worthy contenders and defenses in references to an illegitimate title. It is simply a decent match between two tough fighters with potential to be entertaining.
Sokodjou is literally the best contender for his Strikeforce title out there. If Sokodjou is not worthy of a title fight, then nobody outside of the UFC is.
No one is worthy outside of the UFC because no one is worthy outside of the UFC (namely Machida) of being called the light heavyweight champion.
Some people would say Shogun, but that is for a completely different discussion.
So under Alan & Taveras’s opinion, the UFC Heavyweight Title has no meaning and it shouldn’t matter what they do with it because Fedor is the #1 Heavyweight in the world. And in the previous thread, you (Alan) discuss your opinion on the UFC Heavyweight Title:
“-Poor Shane Carwin. Goes from title fight and big pay day to now having to “earn it” like Karo did. Someone will see what I did there. He turns 35 next year and his athletic peak is probably not long for this world.”
and
“-We just unified the belts and guess what? We may have interims yet again. Its the worst aspect of boxing and the UFC seems all too happy to do it here too.”
But it all doesn’t matter, right? Get your opinion straight. Either titles held by non #1 fighters are either meaningful and worth discuss or they aren’t. Sounds to me like by even discussing that belt, you are putting a smidgen of meaning into it… Shame on you!!
Now… TITLES ARE IMPORTANT!! There, I said it. They give casual fans a way of knowing who the best within that company is. In the corporate world, when you work at a company and you want to move up to the next level, many people will say: “Act and dress like you are already at that level.”
Strikeforce needs to act and dress the part of a big time promotion. You can’t make it to the highest level without acting like you belong. That means getting title belts with meaning. That means getting rid of those stupid non-title fights. Whether they have the #1 fighter in that weight class or not… They need to start making those belts important. And then if they can get the talent to back it up, it will be that much easier to continue with what they should be doing.
The way they are operating right now, they act second class. And that does not help out Strikeforce.
But it all doesn’t matter, right?
It matters as far as Carwin is concerned because he’d get paid more and have a lot more weight to throw around in negotiations. Throwing together another title belt matters in so much as having 2 belts is too many, much less an arbitrary third for the sake of promoting a fight,which is exactly why you see boxing sanctioning bodies with 3 champions.
But in so much as how that pertains to a nobody champion in a second rate promotion defending his promotional bauble? It doesn’t. If the UFC wanted Mousasi, they could have him with ease, champion or not, because they make so much money.
Oh, and for the record, you can go back to any discussion I’ve had about the UFC titles over this same span and see no change in opinion. I think its funny that bloggers love to promote these fake champions. Shows what kind of allegiances and backgrounds they have when they do it.
Strikeforce needs to act and dress the part of a big time promotion.
I don’t care if they act or dress that way. I don’t care if the ratings are great. Mousasi ain’t the fucking light heavyweight champion. He’s barely top ten. I don’t need to respect his title or pretend that it means anything. Nor should anyone when it comes to these fake ass belts.
“But it all doesn’t matter, right? Get your opinion straight. Either titles held by non #1 fighters are either meaningful and worth discuss or they aren’t.”
Thats a ridiculous frame. Some titles are important, and some aren’t. Whether or not the #1 fighter has it plays a part in its importance, but it isn’t the only thing.
Hears a voice – ::::la la la la la la la la la – still not listening::::
Chill. Is there anyone here that ISN’T going to watch the fights anyway? Regardless of what they “mean” in the grand scheme? I know I am, and that’s because Fedor is fighting, who contrary to some opinions (45), IS the baddest man on the planet.