It’s fair to say that 31-year-old champ Rafael Carvalho has checked some major career marks already. After nine straight wins, seven of them knockouts, he made it to the big leagues when he signed with Bellator. Less than one year after that, he’d already conquered its middleweight belt. Carvalho would go on to defend it three times, two of them with knockouts, and is currently the promotion’s most successful active champion . But now, as he prepares to meet Gegard Mousasi (43-6-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at Bellator 200, Carvalho (15-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) has no doubt that he’s standing before his biggest, most important fight yet. “It’s where I’ll be able to solidify my entire career,” Carvalho told MMAjunkie.
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