Gegard Mousasi could move up to 205lbs to become double champion, says Scott Coker

Middleweight Gegard Mousasi could move up to light heavyweight next in order to become a double champion says Bellator president Scott Coker.

Mousasi bested Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima via unanimous decision in the main event of Thursday night’s Bellator 250 card. Mousasi was able to get the better of Lima on the feet and on the mat as he won the decision and earned the vacant Bellator middleweight champion, his second time winning the organization’s title at 185lbs. Mousasi is now 5-1 overall in the Bellator cage and a winner of 10 of his last 11 fights.

As for what’s next for Mousasi, that’s the question everyone is asking now. Should Mousasi stay at 185lbs, then a title defense against top contender John Salter makes sense. But there is another option for Mousasi: moving up in weight. Mousasi has fought at 205lbs many times in his career and it’s possible his next fight in Bellator could be at light heavyweight, according to Coker at the Bellator 250 post-fight press conference.

“When we signed Gegard he had a desire to fight at 205. We’re going to explore that. We’ve got some great fights for him at 205. I still think we have the best 205-pound weight class in the world. We have I think six, seven, eight deep, including Corey Anderson who is going to fight Melvin (Manhoef) next week. To me, it’s something that I think he should do and he should go and try to check it out. But it’s up to him. We’ll see how he feels,” Coker said (via MMAjunkie.com).

Coker also mentioned a few specific names for Mousasi to fight at 205lbs, including former UFC stars Ryan Bader and Corey Anderson, plus new champion Vadim Nemkov.

“I think him fighting Ryan Bader – I could see him fighting maybe Corey Anderson. There’s a lot of guys. Even fighting (Vadim) Nemkov at some point. If he wants to go for the belt, we could have that conversation. He’s been focusing on this fight, and now that it’s over, I’m going to let him rest up and then we’ll have some conversations,” Coker said.

Would you like to see Gegard Mousasi move up to light heavyweight next?