UFC Middleweight Gegard Mousasi had been adament since his signing with the promotion that he wished to compete against the biggest and best names, calling out the likes of Ronald Souza, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort. Mousasi has now turned his attention to one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the Octagon.
Fresh over his decisive victory against Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 84 in London last month, Mousasi (38-6-2, 5-3 in UFC) is now officially calling out Anderson “The Spider” Silva. In a statement released Wednesday to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Mousasi’s manager Nima Safapour formally lays down a challenge for Silva to meet Mousasi on either June 4th at UFC 199, or July 9th at UFC 200
“All of the Brazilian media has been contacting us today about a potential Mousasi/Silva match-up in Brazil. It is an exciting idea as it will be a stadium show. However, the Curitiba card is right around the corner. Therefore, we need adequate time to put the camp together and prepare. We would gladly fight Anderson. However, a May date is too soon of a return. Had we known immediately after the London card then maybe. But that time has passed us, unfortunately. We will take the fight gladly. However, I think it would make more sense to have them fight either at UFC 199 in LA at the earliest, or alternatively, at UFC 200 in Vegas at the latest. Gegard wants to have the fastest turnaround possible while not compromising the organization and structure of his training camp. So the question should go back directly to Anderson on whether he accepts our challenge at either UFC 199 or UFC 200.”
Silva (33-7, 16-3 in the UFC) is coming off a closely contested fight with TUF winner Michael Bisping at the same Fight Night card in London where Silva tasted defeat against only the second man thus far in the UFC. Many fans considered they would see Silva compete at UFC 198 which will take place in Brazil. Still a very possible outcome as fellow Middleweight Tim Kennedy has openly stated he would fight Silva in Brazil