By Dwight Wakabayashi
Next weekend’s UFC on FUEL TV 9 from Sweden will mark the long-awaited debut of one of the most dangerous fighters to never compete in the UFC as “The Armenian Assassin” Gegard Mousasi takes on Alexander Gustafsson in the main event.
The 27-year old Iranian-born Mousasi started fighting professionally 10 years ago, and quickly built up an impressive 10-1-1 record in his first two years in the sport. Success in the small shows throughout parts of Europe, and a couple of solid wins in Japan early in his career, earned him entry into the prestigious 2006 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix at the age of 21.
The Pride Grand Prix was the first glimpse of Mousasi on the world stage and he certainly didn’t disappoint. He opened the tournament with a TKO over Makoto Takimoto, breaking the Japanese veteran judoka’s eye socket in the process. The win set up a second-round fight with Japanese star and tournament favourite Akihiro Gono. Mousasi’s only loss to that point in his career had come via submission armbar, and he lost to Gono tapping out to the same hold.
The loss to Gono eliminated Mousasi from the tournament but his solid showing did get him an alternate bout against Hector Lombard at the semi-final show Bushido 13. The winner would serve as a replacement opponent if one of the remaining competitors sustained an injury. Mousasi defeated Lombard via unanimous decision to stamp his arrival among the best of the best in the sport.
Following his win over Lombard, Mousasi continued on an incredible 15-fight win streak in the next three years that included three successful fights in Canada — including one with the high-profile but short-lived Bodog FIGHT — and a return to Japan to compete in the inaugural Dream 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix.
His 2008 campaign and run in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix is Mousasi’s pinnacle moment to date, as he defeated Denis Kang, Yoon Dong-Sik, Melvin Manhoef and Ronald (Jacare) Souza to win the Dream middleweight title. Three of the four wins were by finish, and we caught the first glimpse of Gegard’s dreaded upkick when he landed it to finish off Souza in the finals.
Holding the Dream middleweight championship had fans and media calling for Mousasi to come over to the UFC and take on their reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva, or some of the top light heavyweights at the time like Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson or Lyoto Machida.
Amid heavy speculation that the Dream promotion and mixed martial arts in Japan was in dire straits to survive, Mousasi announced that he would move up to the light-heavyweight class for the remainder of his career, and he landed a spot in the open weight tournament Dream Super Hulk Grand Prix. The MMA world wondered about the direction of the champion’s career as he landed a first-round match-up with K-1 champion and monster Mark Hunt. Mousasi submitted Hunt in the first round, but had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
In deep financial trouble in August 2009, the Dream promotion formed an alliance with San Jose-based promotion Strikeforce, and Mousasi landed an immediate shot at Renato Sobral and the Strikeforce light-heavyweight title. Mousasi knocked out Sobral in the first round to win the belt. He next fought in two non-title fights — one with Strikeforce, one with Dream — before defending his Strikeforce belt for the first time against Muhammed (King Mo) Lawal early in 2010.
Mousasi lost his title in a one-sided decision to Lawal, who was undefeated at the time. In the fight Mousasi failed to completely adjust to the new North American rules and was deducted a point for an illegal upkick.
Mousasi lost a bit of shine with that loss to Lawal and his status and marketability is not what it was a few years ago. He is undefeated in his last six fights against mediocre competition like Keith Jardine, Jake O’Brien, and Ovince St. Preux. He did not fight at all in 2012, as he was recovering from surgery due to a torn ACL, before making easy work of Mike Kyle in Strikeforce’s farewell show in January.
After fighting some of the toughest men outside the UFC for a decade, Mousasi is finally on the UFC roster as a light heavyweight at the prime age of 27. There is no need for a warm-up and fans won’t have to wait at all to see how the veteran will measure up against the very best in the UFC. He will take on Gustafsson, the No. 2 ranked light-heavyweight in the world, on the young Swede’s home turf in his first test.
It has been a long time coming, and with a future title shot directly at stake, it should be well worth the wait. Mousasi can do it all, and has all the experience needed to step under the bright lights of the UFC and go straight at a fighter like Gustafsson with some success. He is currently ranked No. 10 in the world and can boost himself up to the front of the line for a title shot with a convincing win.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.
