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Mousasi sounds off on critics of Bellator debut: 'They can suck it'

Dave Mandel / USA TODAY Sports

Gegard Mousasi had some choice words for his detractors following his Bellator debut.

The former UFC contender fought with one eye for the bulk of last Friday's tilt with Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 185 - where he took a razor-close decision - but that didn't spare him any ire, as the unanimous verdict he earned was met with boos at Mohegan Sun Arena. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of "The MMA Hour," Mousasi admitted he wasn't pleased with his performance before sounding off on those who condemned it.

"No, not at all," Mousasi said, per MMA Fighting's Alexander K. Lee. "But he punched me right in the eye in the first minute so I was fighting on instinct, trying to survive, I was fighting with one eye for almost three rounds so it didn’t go the way I wanted, but a win is a win. To the haters, they can suck it.

"I have a pretty long one, they can all get in line and suck it."

Mousasi ate an overhand left from Shlemenko in the fight's early going, one that fractured his orbital bone - promptly cutting his vision in half. The injury had him fighting on instinct for the remainder of the three-round contest. Needless to say, he's still suffering 72 hours later.

"I’m trying to survive, I cannot see anything. Yesterday, I was walking in New York, I was stumbling. I couldn’t even walk. I fought three rounds. I don’t know what people are talking about. Maybe they should go instead and fight in the cage. They’re sitting behind the computer eating potatoes and they have all their opinions, but let them do that."

Shlemenko, for one, aims to appeal the verdict, according to his manager.

Although he did enough to pick up the victory, the 32-year-old is the latest in a long list of UFC imports to have struggled in their Bellator debuts, and while he didn't secure the stoppage he'd predicted, Mousasi remains irked by the critics who continue to question his abilities after 50 trips to the cage.

"I was nervous a little bit. I was nervous more than probably a lot actually, because there was pressure on me going to Bellator. This is an opportunity for the idiots to complain now and that’s what this is all about. The people sitting at home, waiting for something to go wrong so they can judge, so they can say stupid s--t. They don’t have any respect.

"I watched Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone lose and he doesn’t get as much s--t as I get. They talk about I lost to Uriah Hall and I lost to 'Jacare,' but both of those guys I have a win over also. So every time they go back and they always discuss if I’m a good fighter or a bad fighter, after 50 fights, I think I’ve proven that I’m a good fighter. What are they talking about? But you can’t fix stupid."

MMA fans have long been believed to be a fickle bunch, a notion Mousasi wholeheartedly subscribes to, as he maintained his tilt with Shlemenko will be rendered insignificant with a dominant performance in his next fight under the Bellator banner.

"If I win my next fight, they’re all going to forget the last one. That’s how the memory of these idiots work. They have short memory. They’re like goldfish or something.

"They all can suck it. Take a line, take a ticket. I have enough for you all."

Mousasi had previously claimed a win over Shlemenko would get him a shot at the middleweight title, one that Rafael Carvalho is set to defend against Alessio Sakara in December, but with surgery now on the docket, it remains to be seen if and when that's still in the cards.

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