Bellator President Scott Coker calls the promotion’s anti-doping stance “transparent” and said he never stopped communicating with Gegard Mousasi and his team.
The now-former Bellator middleweight champ indicated Coker had left him hanging after alerting the promoter to a suspicious picture of Rafael Lovato Jr., who took the title from Mousasi at Bellator Europe 3 after a hard-fought decision.
“I saw a picture of (Lovato Jr.) that did not look natural,” Mousasi said on the “Vechtersbazen Podcast” aired by the Dutch-language Spike. “(Coker) told me that he would get back at me and call me. I didn’t hear anything back.”
Coker said he took the issue seriously and pointed to the new champ’s test results.
“The guy’s been tested three or four times in the last 18 months, and he’s always come out clean,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “His test results yesterday were clean. We go by the testing of the commission or (Mike) Mazzulli, and that’s it. But for him to say he (texted) me and I ignored him, that’s inaccurate.”
Mousasi recently said Lovato Jr. “100 percent” used steroids for their fight and said he asked the event’s regulator to blood test the challenger. Lovato Jr.’s rep declined comment on the accusations.
The event’s regulator, Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation head Mike Mazzulli, said he assured Mousasi that Lovato would be tested and added that a urine test came back clean on Tuesday.
Mazzulli serves as the de-facto athletic commission for Bellator events in jurisdictions without an official MMA regulatory body. Coker defends the practice of using Mazzulli and state athletic commissions to conduct drug testing and said they are more independent than the UFC’s anti-doping partnership with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
“Even though (Mazzulli) comes in and does testing for us, if somebody got busted – and I don’t know how many there are – he’s regulated them and said, ‘This is your penalty,'” Coker said. “But we don’t make the penalty call. That’s done by the commission, because the way the UFC does it, you’re judge, jury and executioner, and I don’t think that works, because it’s a conflict of interest at that point.
“Until there’s a federal body that comes in and regulates the sport, and does all the testing independently – truly independently – I think this is the right way to go.”
Mousasi’s allegations are not unique in his career. He claimed Brazilian ex-champ Lyoto Machida was using steroids after a decision setback in the UFC and said ex-champ Vitor Belfort suffered from “mental issues” from using previously legal testosterone-replacement therapy.
Mousasi said he’ll likely rematch Machida if he doesn’t get an immediate do-over against Lovato. He reiterated his steroid claim against Machida and accused Brazilians of doping in MMA.
Coker, however, said a meeting with Mousasi’s reps will determine the fighter’s future.
For complete coverage of Bellator Europe 3, check out the MMA Results.
