PFL/Bellator Official Fighter Roster Update
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— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA)
May 23, 2024
After 10 bouts under the Bellator MMA banner, former titleholder Gegard Mousasi is moving on to the next step.
Mousasi, 38, recently appeared on The MMA Hour and claimed he hadn’t been offered a fight since the Professional Fighters League acquired Bellator at the end of the year. The PFL announced in April that Mousasi had been offered a fight at light heavyweight, but that he did not accept it. On Thursday, the PFL and Bellator jointly announced through Bellator head of fighter operations Mike Cogan that Mousasi had been released from his contract, saying, “We wish him the best in his next fighting chapter.”
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce talent said on The MMA Hour on Wednesday that he signed a new contract “worth millions of dollars” before Bellator was acquired. [dollars]He also said a lack of communication between the teams may have led to the fight not being offered to him, and that PFL officials may not have been informed of his new contract until after the purchase was finalized.
Mousasi last fought a little over a year ago, losing a five-round decision to Fabian Edwards at Bellator 296. The setback marked the first time in “The Dreamcatcher”‘s long career that he suffered consecutive losses. He vacated the middleweight title in 2022 to Johnny Eblen. Mousasi has held the Bellator belt twice, first taking it from Rafael Carvalho in 2018 and then reclaiming it against Douglas Lima in 2020. The Dutch former kickboxer has faced some of the biggest names in the business throughout his career, which began in 2003, and made history in 2009 when he became a simultaneous champion in both Strikeforce and Dream.
