As expected, Gegard Mousasi, a mixed martial artist of Armenian origin, became a Bellator MMA champion after making quick work of Rafael Carvalho in their middleweight title fight at Bellator 200 on Friday, May 25, ESPN reports.

The event took place at SSE Arena in London.

Anything short of a middleweight title would have been viewed as a failure for Mousasi, who signed with Bellator as a free agent in 2017. He left the UFC on an impressive five-fight win streak.

"It feels good, I worked hard for this," Mousasi said. "I thinking it could go five rounds, but I've fought with heavy guys. Once I'm in top position, I'm good."

Immediately after the fight, Bellator's welterweight champion, Rory MacDonald, another former UFC standout, called for a champion-versus-champion bout on social media.

For his part, Mousasi seemed more than interested.

"I think everyone wants to see Rory MacDonald," Mousasi said. "Hopefully he doesn't chicken out and we have a fight."

Competing inside the Bellator cage for the first time, middleweight veteranMousasi used timely grappling to survive the aggressive striking of Alexander Shlemenko and win a unanimous decision in the main event of Bellator 185 in october 2017 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.