Mousasi vs. Latifi

This is the official discussion thread for Mousasi vs. Latifi. Let's see what you've got.

Yeah he's going to get destroyed.

I just don't see this guy taking Mousasi, but then again, I don't know a whole helluva a lot about Latifi, except that he's a training partner of Gustafsson's. This could be an advantage for Latifi, and a disadvantage for Mousasi. Because he's been helping Gustafsson train for Mousasi, I'm sure he's watched plenty of tape on The Dreamcatcher, while Mousasi has been preparing himself for Gustafsson, now he has just a few days to prepare for Latifi. Latifi and Gustafsson might be training partners, but I'm sure that they have completely different fighting styles. If I were Mousasi, I would be doing nothing, but studying tape on Latifi. Figure out his strengths and weaknesses, and do whatever I can to mentally prepare to expose those weaknesses.

I'm pretty sure that Mousasi is going to win, but if somehow Latifi pulls of the upset, that would be a bigger burst onto the UFC scene than Anderson Silva when he dismantled Chris Leben in 44 seconds.

It's a win/win situation for the UFC.

If Mousasi wins, then they can continue pushing him as a top fighter in the light heavyweight division.

If Mousasi loses, they can sign Latifi to a long term deal and build him up as a top light heavyweight underdog, plus they have another Swedish, European fighter they can use to be on Swedish, European cards.

Well, I've watched a little tape on Latifi. Latifi has what I call a "big" stance. Which means he makes himself a large target that is easy to hit. Just his stance alone makes him an easy target for a fighter like Mousasi to hit. Also with the style that Latifi has, he leaves himself open for body punches, body kicks, overhand rights, and high kicks. I feel really confident with my pick for this fight.

@jaykool777 Reminded me of this:



...he leaves himself open for body punches, body kicks, overhand rights and high kicks...


Yeah, I think King Hippo is pretty accurate.

@CthulhuJones It did... I meant open for body punches mostly.

Once that fat man held both hands up, it was all over.

* Edited at 04.03.2013, 1:16 AM ET *

@grizzlyedwin - that was too ******* funny!!!!!! LMAO!!!! I had to give you a thumbs up on that. *"BUMP!!!!"*

I remember that game. Mike Tyson's Punchout. I was in the 7th grade when I conquered that game. The original Nintendo Entertainment System. Mike Tyson's Punchout, Ring King, and Metroid were my favorite games. I would play those games for hours on end. Talk about going down memory lane. LOL

@jaffacakehero You are so ******* wrong it's unbelievable. Do you honestly think Gegard Mousasi is a bigger name than Ryan Couture or Ross Pearson? That's just...no.

Ryan Couture is the son of a movie star and one of the five most wellknown fighters in the history of the sport. Just referring to him as Randy Couture's son intrigues people.

Ross Pearson won The Ultimate Fighter and I'm sorry but that does a lot more than many people realize. He had almost a million people watch him beat people up on cable TV.

Gegard Mousasi was the ex-champion of Strikeforce that can barely get 500,000 views AND he never main-evented. PRIDE Veteran is a load of ****, he had three fights with PRIDE Bushido, was that even on ******* cable TV for the Japanese? If Mousasi main-evented PRIDE 30-something he'd still be a smaller name than Ryan Couture and Ross Pearson, because no one knows what the **** PRIDE is.

MMA fans are in the thickest ******* bubble in all of sports, they really don't realize how not-popular this sport's athletes are.

* Edited at 04.03.2013, 8:22 AM ET *

Mousasi is the luckiest man alive

Mousasi will smash him easily

Unless Latifi can get a finish within lets say ... the first 2 minutes, hes done. Seen him fight, not the best cardio. But he really does try to hurt you in the opening minutes of the fight. He likes to strike and slam people... Highly doubt he does that to Mousasi.

Latifi isn't even in fight shape, his cardio is going to be atrocious. This is going to be so easy for Mous, I do appreciate Latifi for stepping up. If he can last more than 2 minutes I say the UFC should toss him a bone and give him another bout against a far lesser opponent as a way of saying "thanks."

I'm beginning to think that my 2nd rd KO pick is giving Latifi too much credit.

@cal1, I think the UFC tosses him a bone even if he loses via self-poke in the eye after he bailed them out like this.

He gets at least one more fight in the UFC.

@yoss lol self eye poke.

7-2 training partner of Gus making his debut vs 33-3 ex Strikeforce and Dream LHW Champ.

Sounds like a good matchup. At least Ilir will get his name on the big screen worldwide, regardless of what he does, he'll have a UFC bout agains Mousasi.

Thats good for the CV of a 7-2 fighter IMO

According to Lars Wallin (Swedish BJJ coach). Latifi has solid jiu jitsu.. Again, highly doubt he will be able to come close to subbing Mousasi.. But hey it's comething.

I was thinking of award hunting here but then I remembered this is the first event in the $500 contest!