Kane “The Danger” Mousah is out to make his mark in Milan this weekend as he competes against Rafael “The Butcher” Macedo.
The Mancunian MMA fighter has had an impressive career: 12 wins and only two losses shows Mousah as a consistent performer at the top level.
This is his second fight with Bellator after winning in Birmingham back in May against Mateusz Piskorz, and although Macedo is standing in for the injured Daniele Scatizzi, Mousah has now come to terms with the news.
“I got the message that my opponent had pulled out, it was a bit of a shock for myself and I had to get my mind around it,” he told MM.
“Initially you get a shock, then your heart drops a little because you’re thinking ‘I just want to fight’.”
There was an admittance that the once rash, hot-headed fighter has now had to think more tactically about his fights rather than acting too hasty.
“When I hurt my opponent, I need to pick my shots to make sure we can get a solid finish instead of making the fight too scrappy. Sometimes I am guilty of making fights a bit too scrappy because that is who I am as a person.
“Experience leads to a thought process, which leads to a more methodical way of fighting instead of just being in there to impose your aggression and athleticism on your opponent.
“At this level, now being able to dissect your opponent leads to releasing the aggression and varicosity at the right time.
“I feel like now is my time in terms of my skill set, in terms of my mind set, in terms of my experience I feel it is my time to be able to demonstrate my ability to dissect my opponent and get an impressive win.”
Despite this analytical approach, Mousah needs to fight at the top level and he confesses his belligerent instinct still follows him into the cage.
“Don’t get me wrong, I am a killer at the end of the day, it’s what people rely on me for.
“I do need the opportunity to finish my opponent or if it goes down to the point where I need to impose an aggressive style to break my opponent’s will, then I’m also going to be in there to rip my opponent’s head off.
“You don’t get anywhere being polite and nice. I am a nice guy outside the cage, but when it is the real time to go and a guy is trying to take everything away from me, then I will catch him with a ferocious strike.”
FIGHTING ROOTS
With all the success Mousah has endured, he has never forgotten how his youth shaped the type of fighter he wanted to be, therefore setting him on the career path he went down.
“I realised as I got older that fighting, in terms of someone to inflict pain on, has never been myself.
“Involved in gangs and being tough and being able to fight was a way of protecting yourself and building your street cred.
“There were a number of factors for my wanting to fight, my boisterous personality and competitive mentality that I feel some people are just born with. I feel this was my avenue to competing against other people to show them who is the better competitor.”
Discussing his inspiration for getting into MMA, the lightweight fighter referred to a piece of memorabilia belonging to a family member that ignited his motivation.
“My uncle was my fighting idol, there was a picture of him on the fireplace doing a sidekick which led on to him to be world kickboxing champion.
“I wanted my own pictures, and I am coming up to 15 fights, so I have a lot of them, so it shows that’s how important an inspiration it is for young children, because look at where I am now.”
Reflecting on Mousah’s time in prison, the MMA fighter knew he didn’t want that type of life, hence fuelling his desire to get his fighting career back on track.
Mousah was initially sentenced for nine years, but only having to service four and a half years due to being in a category D prison meant he could train outside away from the facility. The sentence was eventually cut down to two years and nine months.
“You just gave me goosebumps saying that word (prison) as it was a massive eye opener.
“It’s no place for any human being. My sentence was a saviour and present from God because it kept me out of that environment.
“We only get one life on earth and putting yourself in prison is basically giving your life away. It was a pivotal point in my life as it made me realise that is not where I want to be.”
BELLATOR ON THE RISE
Mousah believes that Bellator is only going to get bigger as the European tour has given the organisation more coverage in addition to more chances for young fighters.
“Bellator for me is the best organisation, they have been on the scene for many years, but this year has been pivotal for Bellator. The European side of Bellator is now focused on up and coming fighters and giving them the opportunity to fight on the big stage.”
Family, fighting and fashion.@Kane86mousah takes us through a typical day in his life ahead of #BellatorMilan.
Watch the full video on the Bellator Europe Instagram. pic.twitter.com/sU7MMJQGrp
— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) October 10, 2019
History will be made as Bellator is heading to Japan for the very first time in late December. Mousah sees it as a big ambition to be on the same fighting card as his heroes.
“If I can get myself on that I would be a lucky man. You’ve got the two legends – one I trained with (Quinton) Rampage Jackson at Wolverstone and Fedor (Emelianenko) who is another one of my idols.
“I remember looking up to Rampage, we would hear when he was coming to the gym and he walked through the door and I was in awe.”
Looking towards Saturday’s fight, the MMA fighter is expecting a cagey approach from Macelo and is confident in his ability to get a comprehensives victory.
“I am expecting to him to be cautious, to take his time and try to play safe. I know he is a dangerous opponent but if I was watching myself then my thought would be don’t rush into someone like Kane.
“He’s come to fight but I don’t think he has what it takes to get past this fight.”
Bellator Milan gets underway at 4:00pm on Saturday October 12, kicking off with Nicolò Solli vs Daniel Cassell and finishing with the main event of Melvin Manhoef vs Yannick Bahati.
Watch Kane Mousah in action at Bellator Milan live on Channel 5 from 10pm BST.
Image courtesy of Kane Mousah and Bellator Europe via Twitter, with thanks.
