Former Bellator MMA middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho has addressed his loss to Gegard Mousasi.
Although this bout was not the original main event, it turned into an exciting fight that was headliner worthy.
Bellator 200 took place on Friday, May 25, 2018, at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England and due to time zone differences, was taped earlier in the day but aired live on the Paramount Network.
Mousasi was able to defeat Carvalho to win the middleweight title when he was able to score a TKO victory in just 3:25 of the very first round. As a result, this fight capped off a night that featured some action-packed fights that entertained those fans who decided to attend the show.
Carvalho opened up on the loss in a recent interview with MMA Junkie and how he plans to get back to the drawing board.
“I think he studied all my fights and noticed that I liked to kick the waist area,” Carvalho told MMAjunkie. “That’s what he was waiting for. That’s something that my trainer and I, on fight week, we insisted on that – on not kicking, on working the boxing, so I could open the gaps to really impose my game. Unfortunately, it was something I did out of impulse.”
“I even said, jokingly, that the belt looks better with me,” Carvalho added with a laugh. “I think the gold really makes my eyes pop.”
Carvalho’s winning streak and reign as the top guy in Bellator’s middleweight division has come to a close as a result of this loss.
He entered this fight on a fourteen fight win streak with recent wins over the likes of Melvin Manhoef twice and Alessio Sakara. He won the title from Brandon Halsey back in October of 2015.
What are your thoughts on his comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
