Lyoto Machida hopes to leave no doubt in his rematch with Gegard Mousasi.
On Sept. 28, Machida and Mousasi will do battle in the Bellator 228 co-headliner. The action will be held inside The Forum in Inglewood, California. Headlining the card will be a featherweight title bout between champion Patricio Freire and Juan Archuleta. This will also serve as an opening round bout in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix.
Machida Aims To Silence Mousasi & His ‘Excuses’
Mousasi has blasted Machida over his run-in with USADA when the two were fighting under the UFC banner. Machida defeated Mousasi via unanimous decision back in Feb. 2014. Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Machida said he aims to silence Mousasi.
“Nothing that he says affects myself,” Mousasi told MMA Junkie. “We are going to fight again and it’s going to be a rematch and if I beat him for the second time he has no excuses. No excuses. I just want to be very focused on what I have to do. For this fight I know I’m 100 percent focused and I just want to do my job.”
As far as his path to victory is concerned, Machida feels he can stop Mousasi this go-round via knockout.
“I believe I can knock him out and I can also control the fight at all times,” Machida said. “I still consider myself a very explosive fighter, so if I want to explode, I can. Mousasi is not an explosive fighter. He has the rhythm to fight little by little and increase over the fight. I won’t let him increase in the fight.”
