Gegard Mousasi defeats Ilir Latifi by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
by Scott Cumming @tummidge
MMA's "Rocky" story didn't get a dream Hollywood ending at UFC on Fuel TV 9 with Gegard Mousasi taking the unanimous decision victory against Ilir Latifi. Latifi stepped into the main event at only 4 days notice to take on the former Strikeforce and Dream champion, but never proved a match for him. Mousasi employed the strategy of a man with everything to lose by keeping Latifi on the end of his punches for 14 and a half minutes and constantly pressuring with his jab.
He kept Latifi backed up for the majority of the fight, only having to defend a couple of takedowns before a rousing last 30 seconds for his opponent as he got him down, but couldn't make Mousasi pay. By the closing bell the only thing "Rocky"-esque was Latifi's face, which was a bloody and swollen mess. Mousasi was big enough to admit he skated along to victory analogising that this was somewhat akin to a stand-up version of lay and pray.
The bout was a hurdle that Mousasi had to get over and it keeps him nicely placed at #10 in the official UFC rankings and the promotion have cited that they still want to see him fight Alexander Gustafsson at some point in the near future. For Latifi, no matter what now becomes of his UFC career he will still always have his debut in the main event of a show in his home country and he is guaranteed at least one more fight with the promotion where we may get to glimpse his true potential in a weight class that is not stacked with talent at present.
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