Gegard Mousasi
| Gegard Mousasi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Geghard Mofsesiyan August 1, 1985 Iran |
| Other names | The Dreamcatcher |
| Nationality | Armenian, Dutch |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 92.5 kg (204 lb; 14.57 st) |
| Division | 185 205 (2009-present) |
| Style | Kickboxing |
| Fighting out of | Leiden, Netherlands |
| Team | Red Devil International Team Jurojin |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 1 |
| Wins | 1 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 29 |
| Wins | 26 |
| By knockout | 15 |
| By submission | 9 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By submission | 2 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Notable relatives | Gewik Mousasi, brother |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Gegard Mousasi (born August 1, 1985) is a professional Dutch-Armenian mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is fighting out of Team Jurojin in Leiden, Netherlands and is a member of Red Devil Sport Club. He is the former Dream Middleweight Champion, Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion and the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion.
Biography
Gegard Mousasi was born to Armenian parents in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. At the age of 4, Mousasi and his family relocated to Leiden, Netherlands, where he finished grade school before even developing an interest in martial arts.[1]
Early career
He started practicing Judo[2] and later boxing at age 15; twelve months later he became the amateur boxing champion of the Netherlands. When he figured out that he couldn't make it to the top of the boxing world due to Holland lacking boxing expertise, he switched to kickboxing, and then eventually to mixed martial arts.[1]
Dream
In the first round of the Dream's 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix at Dream 2 he defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Denis Kang by triangle choke. In the second round of the tournament, at Dream 4, he won a decision victory over Dong Sik Yoon and advanced to the final round which took place at Dream 6.[3] There he fought and submitted K-1 veteran Melvin Manhoef in the semi-finals before meeting up with submission specialist Ronaldo Souza in the final. Mousasi defeated Souza by an upkick after being taken down by the Brazilian, thus becoming the first Dream Middleweight Champion and 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament winner.
K-1 Dynamite!! 2008
In a somewhat surprise to the MMA world, Gegard agreed to take on Japanese K-1 fighter Musashi in a K-1 rules fight at Dynamite!! 2008. Being an open weight fight Gegard weighed in at 97.8 kg/216 lbs, all but confirming his desire to move up in weight classes. Gegard stated after winning the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix he would no longer fight at middleweight due to the large weight cut. Gegard was not favored to win the match against the more experienced Musashi, but came out fast and scored a first round KO. Gegard went undefeated in 2008 going 6-0 in MMA, and 1-0 in K-1.
Move to light-heavyweight and heavyweight
In interviews from early 2009, Mousasi stated the weight he put on after winning Dream's middleweight tournament was too much for him to cut back down to middleweight and that his next fights would be at light-heavyweight and eventually heavyweight instead.[4][5]
Mousasi submitted Mark Hunt in the first round of the Super Hulk Grand Prix at Dream 9.
Mousasi was set to fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1, 2009, but the event was canceled after losing its main event 10 days prior to the event.[6] It was originally planned for him to face Vitor Belfort at that event, but there was a disagreement between both fighters over which weight class the fight would be fought at.[7] On Monday July 27, 2009 it was announced that the cancelled bout between Sobral and Mousasi would take place on the August 15 Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg card and the fight became a contest for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight championship belt. Mousasi defeated Sobral via KO in the first round to become the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion. At M-1 Breakthrough a exhibition grappling match between new Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and Fedor Emelianenko took place in which both showed great grappling throws and sweeps but ended by Fedor submitting Mousasi by arm bar with one and a half minutes left in the first round.
Titles
- 2009 Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion
- 2008 Dream Middleweight Champion
- 2008 Dream Middleweight GP Champion
- 2006 Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion
Mixed martial arts record
| 29 matches | 26 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 15 | 0 |
| By submission | 9 | 2 |
| By decision | 2 | 0 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TBA
|
Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers | November 7, 2009 |  Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
|
For Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship | |||||
| Win | 26-2-1 |  Renato Sobral
|
KO (Punches) | Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg | August 15, 2009 | 1 | 1:00 | San Jose, California, USA
|
Won Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 25-2-1 |  Mark Hunt
|
Submission (Straight Armbar) | Dream 9 | May 26, 2009 | 1 | 1:20 |  Yokohama, Japan
|
Dream Super Hulk Grand-Prix Opening Round |
| Win | 24-2-1 | Ronaldo Souza
|
KO (Upkick) | Dream 6 | September 23, 2008 | 1 | 2:15 | Saitama, Japan
|
Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix Final; Won Dream Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 23-2-1 |  Melvin Manhoef
|
Submission (Triangle Choke) | Dream 6 | September 23, 2008 | 1 | 1:28 | Saitama, Japan
|
Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix Semi-Final |
| Win | 22-2-1 |  Dong Sik Yoon
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Dream 4 | June 15, 2008 | 2 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Japan
|
Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix Quarter-Final |
| Win | 21-2-1 |  Denis Kang
|
Submission (Triangle Choke) | Dream 2 | April 29, 2008 | 1 | 3:10 | Saitama, Japan
|
Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix Opening Round |
| Win | 20-2-1 |  Steve Mensing
|
TKO (Punches) | M-1: Slamm | March 2, 2008 | 1 | 2:43 | Holland
| |
| Win | 19-2-1 | Evangelista Santos
|
TKO | HCF: Destiny | February 1, 2008 | 1 | 3:42 | Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| |
| Win | 18-2-1 |  Damir Mirenic
|
TKO | HCF: Title Wave | October 19, 2007 | 1 | 4:46 | Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| |
| Win | 17-2-1 | Kyacey Uscola
|
TKO | Bodog Fight: Vancouver | August 25, 2007 | 1 | 4:56 | Vancouver, Canada
| |
| Win | 16-2-1 |  Alexander Kokoev
|
Submission (Choke) | M-1 Battle on the Neva | July 21, 2007 | 1 | 0:58 | St. Petersburg, Russia
| |
| Win | 15-2-1 |  Gregory Bouchelaghem
|
Submission (Stikes) | CWFC: Enter The Rough House | December 9, 2003 | 1 | 2:20 |  Nottingham, United Kingdom
| |
| Win | 14-2-1 |  Hector Lombard
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Pride Bushido 13 | November 5, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Japan
|
PRIDE 2006 WW GP Alternate Bout |
| Loss | 13-2-1 | Akihiro Gono
|
Submission (Armbar) | Pride Bushido 12 | August 26, 2006 | 2 | 4:24 | Nagoya, Japan
|
PRIDE 2006 WW GP Quarterfinal |
| Win | 13-1-1 | Makoto Takimoto
|
TKO (Broken Eye Socket) | Pride Bushido 11 | June 4, 2006 | 1 | 5:34 | Saitama, Japan
|
PRIDE 2006 WW GP Opening Round |
| Win | 12-1-1 | Hidetada Irie
|
TKO (Punches) | Deep 24 Impact | April 11, 2006 | 2 | 1:29 | Tokyo, Japan
| |
| Win | 11-1-1 | Sanjin Kadunc
|
TKO (Strikes) | Future Battle | March 5, 2006 | 1 | 0:35 | Holland
| |
| Win | 10-1-1 | Andre Fyeet
|
TKO | 2H2H: Mixed Fight | December 17, 2005 | 1 | 0:40 | Holland
| |
| Win | 9-1-1 | Tsuyoshi Kurihara
|
KO (Knee) | Deep 22 Impact | December 2, 2005 | 1 | 0:10 | Tokyo, Japan
| |
| Win | 8-1-1 | Stefan Klever
|
TKO (Punches) | Bushido Europe: Rotterdam Rumble | October 9, 2005 | 1 | 3:39 | Rotterdam, Holland
| |
| Win | 7-1-1 | Chico Martinez
|
Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | JE: Holland vs Russia | April 24, 2005 | 1 | 4:27 | Holland
| |
| Win | 6-1-1 |  John Donnelly
|
Submission (Armbar) | Rings: Bushido Ireland | March 12, 2005 | 1 | 1:02 | Ireland
| |
| Loss | 5-1-1 |  Petras Markevičius
|
Submission (Armbar) | Fight Festival 13 | February 28, 2005 | 2 | 1:49 |  Helsinki, Finland
| |
| Win | 5-0-1 | Erik Aganov
|
Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | M-1: International Fight Night | February 5, 2005 | 1 | 2:16 | St. Petersburg, Russia
| |
| Win | 4-0-1 | Rody Trost
|
TKO (Strikes) | IMA: Mix Fight | December 19, 2003 | 1 | 3:18 | Landsmeer, Holland
| |
| Win | 3-0-1 | Niko Puhakka
|
Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | Fight Festival 11 | September 11, 2004 | 2 | 2:17 | Helsinki, Finland
| |
| Draw | 2-0-1 | Gilson Ferreira
|
Draw | Together Productions: Fight Gala | November 15, 2003 | 2 | 5:00 | Zaandam, Holland
| |
| Win | 2-0 | Xander Nel
|
TKO (Strikes) | IMA: Mixfight Gala | October 12, 2003 | 1 | 1:05 | Badhoevedorp, Holland
| |
| Win | 1-0 | Daniel Spek
|
TKO (Cut) | 2H2H: 1st Open Team Mixfight Championships | April 27, 2003 | 1 | 3:40 | Amsterdam, Holland
|
K-1 record
| 1 Wins (1 (T)KO's, 0 decisions), 0 Losses | |||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Method | Round | Time | |
| 2008-12-31 | Win | Musashi
|
Dynamite!! 2008, Saitama, Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 1 | 2:32 | |
References
- ^ a b Leidecker, Tim. ""Europe's Best-Kept Secret"". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ^ "Exclusive: Gegard Mousasi". M1mixfight.com. 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Fight Finder - Dream 4 - Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Quarterfinals". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ "Gegard Moussasi Plans to Move Up from Middleweight". MMAUniverse.com. 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Hunt, Loretta (2009-02-14). "Middleweight Mousasi To Take Heavyweight Leap". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ "Affliction Releases Official Statement on Cancellation". The Fight Network. 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ Stupp, Dann. "Mousasi refuses Affliction III middleweight bout, challenges Belfort to catch-weight". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved May 30, 2009.