Gegard Mousasi says he fights ‘to get paid’, not because he loves the sport

Gegard Mousasi is set to defend his middleweight title against Rafael Lovato Jr. in the main event of Bellator London tomorrow afternoon.

The 33-year-old, Mousasi, will fight professionally for the 53rd time on Saturday. Although he has been fighting professionally since 2003, he admits he doesn’t love the sport. Rather, he is doing it to get paid.

“I’m fighting to get paid,” Gegard Mousasi said to MMAFighting. “I’m not doing this because I love the sport so much, I’m not a crazy person. The motivation if I beat these guys, if I keep winning, my paycheck will go up eventually after my contract is done. That’s the motivation for me. It’s my job.

“The better you do, the more you make. It’s the same for a doctor or lawyer. If you’re a better lawyer, you’re going to make more money. That’s what I’m trying to do. I want to be the best fighter that I can be to beat these guys and then I get a better contract. That’s the whole thing that keeps me going. Fighting is not my life.”

‘I’m doing it because I get paid’

For Gegard Mousasi, getting paid what he is worth is most important. After he fought Rory MacDonald to defend his middleweight title, many thought the champion would try his luck to become a champ-champ. But, if he moves down or up, Mousasi makes it clear he needs to be paid accordingly.

“They wanted to make the Ryan Bader fight before [Rafael] Lovato and I said fine, pay me more. I’ve said to them, I will go to welterweight, pay me more,” Mousasi said. “If they don’t want to pay me more, I’m fine. I don’t need to do crazy stuff. If I go down [to welterweight], it’s going to take a lot of crazy stuff, a lot of energy out of me. If I go up, I’m going to be facing a bigger, stronger wrestler guy that’s not particularly a good style matchup for me but I’m willing to fight anybody.

“Like I said, I’m not doing it for fun. I’m doing it because I get paid. If they wanted to have a big super fight, that’s fine, pay me more. If not, I’m fine. I’ll stay at middleweight and I’ll do my thing.”

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/21/2019.