Former middleweight world champion Gegard Mousasi will hang up his gloves after making one last run at the Bellator world title this year, starting with Fabian Edwards.
The Dutch fighter is a two-time champion with the promotion, with whom he famously signed after leaving the UFC on a four-fight win streak that included two world champions in Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort. And he is keen to quit on top after an impressive late-career run that has seen him lose just twice to Johnny Eblen and Rafael Lovato Jr.
Mousasi will kick-start his effort at the gold in an all-or-nothing clash with Edwards at the Accor Arena in Paris on May 12, before making a push for a rematch with Eblen. Morale will be high in his rival's camp, with the Brit within touching distance of gold in his own right after watching his brother Leon win and defend the UFC welterweight belt over the last year.
"At the start of this training camp I had those feelings," Mousasi told Mirror Fighting of possible retirement. "I would fall asleep and wake up every 30 minutes or an hour so I couldn't get any sleep because my hand would fall asleep and I'd have to wake up and shake my hand and all of that.
"Then the weight cut wasn't going well, but recently the last two weeks everything was going well and I think when things are going well I think 'oh f*** I think I could do another five fights'. But sometimes your body tells you it's a lot harder nowadays. Thank god these last couple of weeks are going great.
"I want one more try, Fabian if I beat him I'm going to fight for the belt and that's going to be it, probably. But I'm not looking too far ahead and nowadays I don't look much farther than one fight ahead because I don't know what tomorrow's going to bring, I could get a serious injury, I could lose and lose the desire.
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"So at this moment I don't think about it, so I want to go one more time because I think that the Johnny Eblen fight I didn't fight the way that I should have. I have four fights on my contract, but at the end of this year the contract will expire so I'll probably get an extension or something."
Mousasi took what will have been almost a year out of the cage after his loss to Eblen, a comprehensive decision after being out-grappled by the unbeaten American Top Team star. He isn't allowing himself to dwell on that bout or think too deeply about a rematch before getting rid of Edwards.
"I just want one more try at the belt," he insisted. "Because then even if I lose I can be satisfied, I tried, if I failed I tried at least because I feel like I still have it. I'm satisfied how my career went, I'm satisfied with Bellator, I have a really friendly relationship with Scott [Coker, Bellator boss] and I feel that loyalty is so important. I'm happy if this year is the last year I'm going to be satisfied."
Watch Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards live on BBC iPlayer from 5pm BST on Friday, May 12, from the Accor Arena, Paris.
