Gegard Mousasi dumps M-1 Global, opening the door for the UFC
Gegard Mousasi is coming to the UFC. No, the deal hasn’t been signed. There hasn’t even been discussions, as far as I know. The Dutch-Armenian fighter is still under contract with Strikeforce, where he holds the light heavyweight belt. He’s expected to put that belt on the line against wrestler Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in April. And by all accounts he’s very happy with the promotion and the way he’s been treated.
I’m just making a little crystal ball prediction based on a Sherdog report that Mousasi has fired his M-1 Global management team. M-1 Global is the Dutch/Russian company that has a co-promotion deal with Strikeforce. It was M-1’s demand for this kind of deal that prevented its biggest star, Fedor Emelianenko, from signing with the UFC last summer.
With M-1 out of the picture it clears the way for Mousasi to go wherever he likes. Obviously, the UFC is where the biggest fighters make the biggest money. Seems like a no-brainer. Mousasi, who has been Fedor’s training partner, has recently been training with UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, who – surprisingly – was cageside at last month’s Strikeforce: Miami event (that couldn’t have sat too well with UFC president Dana White no matter the public face he put on).
The only thing about Mousasi signing with the UFC that gives me pause – and likely gives him pause, too – is that the UFC doesn’t allow its fighters to compete in other promotions. It makes sense. You don’t want your fighters to lend their name, their popularity, to the competition and also take the risk of getting injured while doing it.
Strikeforce has no such issue. They foolishly allow their fighters to fight wherever and whenever they want with no regard for their Strikeforce obligations. Alistair Overeem is exhibit A in this regard – he hasn’t fought for Strikeforce since he won the heavyweight title two years ago although he’s fought seven MMA bouts and five kickboxing bouts for other promotions in that same time period. Strikeforce even has an “exchange” program with the Japanese-based DREAM organization. That’s good for Mousasi, who’s a DREAM champion and who plans to compete in the DREAM light heavyweight grand prix in May.
Still, the upside of being in the biggest and most-widely known promotion in the world – and fighting against the best fighters, which Mousasi obviously wants to do – will be too hard to resist.