UFC middleweight Gegard Mousasi has been in the UFC long enough to know it’s name recognition that matters as much or more than as your ranking, at least when you’re trying to earn a title fight.

“I would love to fight Uriah Hall,” Mousasi (39-6-2 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who this past weekend knocked out Thiago “Marreta” Santos at UFC 200, told MMAjunkie Radio. “Even Derek Brunson. Of course, if I want to fight for the title, I need the guy who’s better known.”

Hall (12-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC), of course, handed Mousasi a spectacular upset loss when he landed a spinning back kick and flying knee at UFC Fight Night 75. Brunson (15-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is the guy Mousasi was supposed to fight at this past Saturday’s UFC 200 event before Brunson scratched from the card.

Running it back against those opponents might satisfy Mousasi’s competitive nature, but perhaps not advance his career. To do that, he needs to fight an opponent whom every UFC fan follows, in a place everyone knows.

“New York, Anderson Silva,” Mousasi said. “Or Vitor Belfort.”

UFC 205 serves as the promotion’s long-awaited entry into the Empire State. The mega pay-per-view event takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. So far, no fights have been announced for the card, but Mousasi would like to volunteer now.

He’s certainly asked to fight Silva (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), as well as Belfort (25-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC), on multiple occasions, to no avail. But things may be changing after the Brazilians both lost in recent appearances.

Silva, of course, dropped a decision to light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in a UFC 200 non-title fight, which took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was a matchup for which Mousasi actively campaigned and thought he might have gotten. But alas, Silva was the bigger name and got the fight.

Belfort, meanwhile, is on the mend after a first-round TKO loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in May at UFC 198. So, if Mousasi is going to catch the former champs, the time might be now.

“Anderson Silva has lost (four) of his last (five) fights,” Mousasi said. “He’s still ranked No. 5. He’s been caught for steroids. He’s been losing fights, and he’s still in the top six. The rankings don’t matter. I just need to keep busy. I need a couple wins because there are a couple guys ahead of me.”

Those couple of guys include Souza, who recently was forced aside when champ Michael Bisping called for a rematch with Dan Henderson, as well as ex-champs Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold.

Mousasi currently sits No. 7 in UFC’s official rankings, and No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings. He’s a few marks off, but he’s not that far from his goal.

“I would like to fight again, maybe in New York,” he said. “That would be nice to have on my resume. I can fight in two months again. Three or four fights this year, and I can do it.”

For complete coverage of UFC 200, check out the UFC Events section of the site. And for more on UFC 205, check out the UFC Rumors section.

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