The Past and Future 06.23.09: Gegard Mousasi

Posted by Robert Steele on 06.23.2009

This week a look at Gegard Mousasi’s past career highlights, including his Dream Middleweight GP path to victory. And we look into the future for his upcoming fights against “Babalu” and Sokoudjou.



The Past:

Gegard Mousasi was born in Iran, but grew-up primarily in the Netherlands. He developed his amateur career in boxing with great success, but moved to kickboxing and later over to MMA.

His first fights at the professional level in MMA took place mostly in Eastern Europe. He developed a promising start, going 12-1-1 before his debut within the Pride organization. This included a loss via an armbar submission by Petras Morkevicius; but it also included a ten-second KO over Tsuyoshi Kurihara after hooking an arm in a loose clinch and throwing a knee to the head.

His debut at Pride Bushido 11 against Makoto Takimoto did not go according to plan. Mousasi came into the fight with a six inch height advantage. Takimoto secured an early takedown. Takimoto looked to have an early arm bar, but Mousasi rolled out of it and pounced on Takimoto's back. Mousasi worked punches, attempting to open Takimoto for a rear-naked choke. After a long while the ref stood them up for a reset. They checked the eye of Takimoto -- which appeared to only be a swollen mouse over the eye -- and they ended up stopping the fight due to a "broken eye socket" upon further inspection by the doctor. In the end, it was still a win.

His follow-up fight at Pride Bushido 12 against Akihiro Gono did not go according to plan either:

Round 1

Mousasi threw a wild head kick early. A bit later he cornered Gono and threw a flurry of punches. Mousasi got a takedown, but with Gono on top. Gono worked from side control, eventually finding Mousasi's back. They stood briefly, then Gono found another takedown. Gono sprawled around on top to different positions, looking for a submission. He found full-mount, only to have it reversed. Gono nearly found an armbar, but Mousasi slipped out of it. Gono stood and jumped on Mousasi like a gorilla, nearly getting clobbered by an upkick. A bit of striking with Gono on top ended the round.

Round 2

Some stand-up opened the second round. Mousasi came full attack, hoping to get a finish standing. The ref interrupted to check Gono's gloves. Mousasi clinched and threw some low knees to Gono's legs. They broke, then clinched again for more knees, but this time Gono found a takedown with top position. Gono passed to side control, then found Mousai's back, and a quick grab of an arm for the armbar. Mousasi could not escape on that one.

Mousasi would bounce back, winning his next fight with Pride, and bouncing around to organizations thereafter. He made a few fights within TKO.

In October of 2007, he fought Damir Mirenic within TKO. Mirenic stuffed an early takedown, sunk his hooks in and gained top position. At first Mousasi maintained side control despite Mirenic's attempts to buck. Mirenic eventually reversed, then Mousasi reversed to control the top again. Mousasi connected with some elbows and knees to the body sides. Mousasi passed guard, but got caught in an armbar attempt by Mirenic. After breaking free, Mirenic landed an upkick, which was quickly countered by Mousasi's fist to the head. From side control again, Mousasi delivered some elbows to the head and some knees to the body. Mousasi found an opening and passed to full mount to deliver some blows. Mirenic rolled to give up his back, but not his neck. Mousasi delivered more blows continuously for about 30 seconds before the ref finally stopped it.

He would continue on a run before making a major splash in 2008. A dominant performance throughout the Dream 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix showcased Mousasi as one of the world's most dangerous fighters. Here is a look at his path to success.

Dream 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix

Opening Round vs. Denis Kang

To open, a few strikes and an early take-down by Kang. Mousasi controlled Kang's arms from the bottom. Kang got his arms free and attempted a kimura. Kang stood and attempted to find an opening through Mousasi's upkicks. Kang attempted to go into Mousasi's guard and got caught with a triangle choke.

Quarter-final vs. Dong Sik Yoon

Round 1

Mousasi swung and missed as Yoon ducked down for a single-leg takedown. Mousasi defended and countered, standing and finding his way to Yoon's back. Mousasi worked from behind while standing, throwing knees to the back of Yoon's legs. Yoon tried to pull on Mousasi's arm while leaning with his head under the top rope. The ref broke and reset the fighters. Mousasi almost connected with a big head kick. They traded standing, with Mousasi landing the cleaner of strikes. A big leg kick and a combination head punch caused Yoon to collapse. Mousasi, quick to react, found Yoon's back. Yoon recovered and got back to his feet. Yoon's front leg looked a bit weak as he shot in for a failed take-down. Another leg to head combination caused Yoon to collapse. Mousasi became frustrated within Yoon's guard and stood, then proceeded to work more leg kicks with Yoon laying. The ref stood them to reset. Some big knees caused Yoon to collapse. Yoon recovered and closed his guard around Mousasi. Mousasi attempted to stand and almost got his ankle caught in a submission. In side control, Mousasi worked elbows. Yoon reversed a kimura attempt and Mousasi turtled as Yoon attempted an armbar. Mousasi held his wrist, refusing to give up his arm. Yoon got the arm after almost a full minute, only to have Mousasi roll out of the armbar with Houdini-like flexibility. Mousasi had Yoon's back from the side and landed some knees to close the round.

Round 2

Yoon attempted a takedown, but Mousasi ended up mounting his back. Mousasi landed blows to the side of the head continuously, presumably trying open Yoon's neck. The ref moved the fighters away from the ropes to the same position in the middle of the ring. Mousasi landed more blows to the head all the way to the end of the fight. Mousasi won by a clear unanimous decision.

Semi-final vs. Melvin Manhoef

Early leg kick by Mousasi opened the fight. Mousasi attempted a takedown, but Manhoef blocked it by leaning into the ropes. Both struggled from the clinch to gain the top as they fell to the mat. Mousasi ended up on top. Mousasi found Manhoef's back. Manhoef rotated with pure strength, back and forth to his back and stomach and eventually gained top position on Mousasi, only to fall into a triangle. Manhoef stood up, lifting Mousasi vertical. Manhoef slammed Mousasi down hard, but this only helped Mousasi sink the triangle in deeper to win by submission.

Final vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza



Jacare shot in quick to start, but could not get the take-down. He picked Mousasi up and slammed him. Mousasi defended Souza's attempts to pass and submit. From the bottom Mousasi moved his knees across the body to create space. Jacare separated and stood, tried to come in with a lunging punch, but was knocked-out with a flush upkick by Mousasi.

Recently Mousasi won a K-1 fight and competed in the Super Hulk Grand Prix with a win over Mark Hunt with a Kimura submission. Mousasi stated in a Fanhouse interview that he knew the size differential would not pose a problem as long as he got him to the ground.

The Future:

Gegard Mousasi has a lot on his plate. He was initially scheduled to fight Vitor Belfort at an Affliction event, but it fell through due to what Mousasi has indicated must have been communication issues with reaching an agreed catch-weight. Belfort also said that Mousasi was not a big enough name, nor as much competition as he wanted to face. This may build for some future fight.
Instead, Mousasi will be fighting Renato "Babalu" Sobral at the next Affliction event in August. Both are well-rounded fighters and from what Mousasi has indicated in recent interviews he has hinted at it being a ground fight, but there are no guarantees.

On the ground, Mousasi has been caught twice with an armbar for defeat. Twice to be exact. Over the past fights we have just looked at, however, he has shown an amazing ability to find escape while on the brink of a stopped fight. He has incredible flexibility and works well from his back.

His GP run showed that the upkick to beat Jacare was not a mere fluke. His opening round win against Denis Kang foreshadowed the upkick and the triangle showed his strength from on his back. Maybe this guy helped him:



Mousasi will be fighting at light-heavyweight, but has indicated he does not mind the weight moves, saying he is more comfortable at 205lbs and is looking to fight at heavyweight in the near future, and it will be on a permanent basis.

Mousasi will also be advancing in the Super Hulk Tournament to fight Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou has lost recently to Babalu, just before his Hulk win over Jan Nortje. Logic would dictate that if Mousasi could beat Babalu, he could beat Sokoudjou. But Sokoudjou, in the past, has been unpredictable. It may be a fight with some heavy stand-up.

More on the plate includes Mousasi's indications that he may be looking to rekindle his love for boxing. He has said that he will look and see what trainers think about his pure stand-up boxing ability before making a decision. As for the UFC, he has said that he wants to have more fights before jumping over.

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