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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"At middleweight, I don't see anyone that I cannot beat. I feel comfortable fighting against any opponent. After this fight, I'd prefer to fight more of a stand up fighter, but first, I have to get through Machida.
I want to stay at 185 now that I'm in the UFC. I could see maybe taking a big fight at light heavy if they really needed me to, but that's the only way. I don't really want to be going up and down. I just want to focus on one division, and that's middleweight.
[Machida is] a smart fighter. He lures you in, and even though he doesn't do a whole lot, what he does, he does well. I just have to be calm and not get irritated. The stand-up I'm not worried about. I will do just fine there, and on the ground also. I just have to fight smart."
-UFC Fight Night 36's Gegard Mousasi talks to Steph Daniels at BloodyElbow.com about his fight with Lyoto Machida tonight and wantingd to stay at middleweight going forward.
Penick's Analysis: I'm not sure why he doesn't equate Machida as a "stand up fighter," as Machida's base is karate and that's the biggest danger he presents to Mousasi. Machida's not going to look to bring this fight to the ground when he's comfortable playing his counter-striking game. It will be interesting to see how Mousasi actually approaches this matchup tonight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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