Gegard Mousasi’s saga with Professional Fighters League (PFL) ended before it even began.
PFL announced today that the former Bellator Middleweight champion, Mousasi, has been released from contract after recently speaking out about his contract issues.
“Bellator has released Gegard Mousasi from his agreement. We wish him all the best in his next fighting chapter,” Mike Kogan, head of fighter operations, said in a statement released by the organization.
Mousasi, 38, provided an update on his situation yesterday (Weds., May 22, 2024). Previously stating how the promotion refused to talk to him, Mousasi expressed he was willing to pursue legal action to resolve his situation. Mousasi has stated that the promotion didn’t want to pay him what he was promised to fight in his Bellator contract that carried over through the merger late last year. Ultimately, Mousasi believes the excuse is being made by PFL regarding him signing a new deal during the Bellator acquisition.
The 60-fight (49-9-2) legend’s team released the following comments on the matter.
“We will not comment on the merits of the alleged release at this time for obvious reasons,” Mousasi’s manager, Nima Safapour, founder of Moments Sports Consultancy, told MMA Fighting in a statement. “However, we believe there is a greater lesson here that our community should pay close attention to. For an organization that repeatedly claims to be ‘fighter first,’ we now truly see how PFL treats their fighters, especially their legends.”
PFL Founder, Donn Davis, was recently asked about Mousasi and other fighters having their issues with the acquisition, including another former champion, Douglas Lima, and Sabah Homasi, who was released like Mousasi. In response to Mousasi’s situation before today’s news, the PFL frontman said the following.
“Occasionally we’ll have a fighter grumble,” Davis said on WEIGHING IN (h/t MMA Junkie). “It’s one of 205 (fighters acquired from Bellator). You expect five to 10 percent issues on any deal. You can’t be perfect. You can be 90 to 95 percent. We’ve had a handful of people say, ‘Oh, I wish it went this way, I wish it went that way.’ I’m delighted. I’m very, very proud of how we treated our fighters. How we treat our employees. Most of all, the product. We just completed our second [Bellator show] in Paris, which was awesome. We didn’t sit on this for six months. We didn’t take a year off. We didn’t lay off 100 fighters. All the stuff that always happens in all acquisitions. So I just could not be more proud.
“I’ll say two things: One, what I’m super proud of is the market, and anyone you talk to — fighters, business partners, media, managers — we’re direct, fair, and reasonable,” he continued. “100 percent. That’s my 35 years in business. That’s the culture we’ve built here. So I will say, without commenting out of respect on individual negotiations and specific situations – we’re direct, fair, and reasonable with everybody that we deal with. Will everybody’s contract be honored? Of course. Do some people have different ideas of what works and what doesn’t work? Sure. But we’re fair and reasonable with everybody. Will all 205 fighters [from Bellator] have everything fall the way they want? No.”
Mousasi’s last fight came against Fabian Edwards when he lost a unanimous decision at Bellator 296 in May 2023.