Belfort was offered Mousasi and Machida, declined both

Gegard Mousasi acknowledges that his head and heart were not right when he lost to Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza at UFC Fight Nigh 50 on September 5, 2014. He found redemption vs. Dan Henderson, beating him in just 70 seconds at UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson on Jan 24.

“I felt great going into the fight,” said Mousasi to Damon Martin for FOX Sports. “I showed my old self. I really was in the mood to fight and I think that was a big factor in that. I felt mentally very good. I had the desire to really go for it and fight. The fighting spirit was a big part of that performance.”

Mousasi then determined to take a vacation and recharge his batteries. Then Chris Weidman got hurt …

“I was planning on going on holiday, but the UFC called me and asked me ‘would you like to fight Vitor Belfort?’ and I said I had to talk to my coaches because I didn’t want to have that burn out feeling again of fighting just because you have a fight,” said Mousasi. “I really wanted to take my rest, but after talking with my coaches and it was such a big opportunity and I was in the mood to fight.”

“Then I said yes, but it wasn’t like I challenged him. The UFC asked me to fight and I said okay I’m going to take the fight. Machida was first and I was plan B, but Vitor said no to both.”

“He’s going for the belt, that’s his main focus, he wants to have that achievement. That’s his goal I believe. I understand he doesn’t want to risk it. He doesn’t want to risk losing and losing his title shot. It’s a risk and at this point in his career, he doesn’t need to take the risk.

“I can’t blame him. I met him, I even trained with him once. It’s not personal. They offered me the fight and I said yes. I’ve got nothing against him.”

So now it back to vacation. And then it is back in the Octagon, but against who is a little unclear.

Champion: Chris Weidman

1 Anderson Silva

2 Jacare Souza

3 Lyoto Machida

4 Vitor Belfort

5 Luke Rockhold

6 Yoel Romero

7 Gegard Mousasi

8 Tim Kennedy

9 Michael Bisping

10 Thales Leites

“Everyone above me already has a fight booked,” noted Gegard. “The only one who doesn’t have a fight is Anderson Silva and he just came from a fight and I don’t know what he wants to do in the future. Any big name would be fine with me. It’s difficult to know who I’m going to fight.

“Tim Boetsch fought Thales Leites, maybe that one could be a possibility or maybe Michael Bisping. It depends on who is the winner, who is the loser and which opponent will be realistic for me.”

“I’ve taken fights with injuries. I came from an injury and I came right away to fight Machida in Brazil and I think I should have built up a little bit. Not go up against the No. 2 guy, the No. 3 guy, but build the momentum. You have to be smart about it. I can’t fight every guy they throw at me. I have to take my time and build confidence. When I feel ready then I’m going to fight.

“After my last fight I got this feeling that it’s going to be very hard to beat me from now on.”