Tag: gegard mousasi

Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release

Former Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has filed a complaint against the promotion, and the PFL, after being released from his contract in May. The 39-year old was granted his release earlier this year after he spoke incredibly negatively of the promotion in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. In that interview, […]

Continue Reading Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release at MMA News.

Former Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has filed a complaint against the promotion, and the PFL, after being released from his contract in May.

The 39-year old was granted his release earlier this year after he spoke incredibly negatively of the promotion in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. In that interview, he said that if it was up to him, he would like to just leave and move on with his career but his team wanted to pursue legal action after the way he had been treated.

The breakdown in relationship between the two parties stems from Mousasi’s Bellator contract and the PFL being unhappy to honor it after they acquired the promotion and it’s roster last year. This is explained in the documents, including several interactions between Mousasi’s team and the PFL regarding his expensive contract.

This saga appeared to have come to an end when PFL’s Mike Kogan, who previously worked with Mousasi at Bellator, announced that he had been released, writing: “We wish him all the best fighting in his next chapter.”

However, as Mousasi stated back in May, his team wanted to progress things even further with John S. Nash reporting that the complaint alleges a breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, a claim for relief for Monopsonizaton.

The detailed complaint provides lots of information about Mousasi’s Bellator contract and how the PFL did not want to pay him that much money to fight considering that he wasn’t a champion or a PPV draw.

It also goes into the other issues, including a claim that Mousasi was misclassified as an independent contractor instead of an employee.

All of the information, including the conversation back and forth from Mousasi’s management and the PFL can be found via Nash’s X account below:

Continue Reading Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release at MMA News.

Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release

Former Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has filed a complaint against the promotion, and the PFL, after being released from his contract in May. The 39-year old was granted his release earlier this year after he spoke incredibly negatively of the promotion in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. In that interview, […]

Continue Reading Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release at MMA News.

Former Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has filed a complaint against the promotion, and the PFL, after being released from his contract in May.

The 39-year old was granted his release earlier this year after he spoke incredibly negatively of the promotion in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. In that interview, he said that if it was up to him, he would like to just leave and move on with his career but his team wanted to pursue legal action after the way he had been treated.

The breakdown in relationship between the two parties stems from Mousasi’s Bellator contract and the PFL being unhappy to honor it after they acquired the promotion and it’s roster last year. This is explained in the documents, including several interactions between Mousasi’s team and the PFL regarding his expensive contract.

This saga appeared to have come to an end when PFL’s Mike Kogan, who previously worked with Mousasi at Bellator, announced that he had been released, writing: “We wish him all the best fighting in his next chapter.”

However, as Mousasi stated back in May, his team wanted to progress things even further with John S. Nash reporting that the complaint alleges a breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, a claim for relief for Monopsonizaton.

The detailed complaint provides lots of information about Mousasi’s Bellator contract and how the PFL did not want to pay him that much money to fight considering that he wasn’t a champion or a PPV draw.

It also goes into the other issues, including a claim that Mousasi was misclassified as an independent contractor instead of an employee.

All of the information, including the conversation back and forth from Mousasi’s management and the PFL can be found via Nash’s X account below:

Continue Reading Former Champion Files Lawsuit Against PFL-Owned Bellator Shortly After His Release at MMA News.

PFL releases former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi from contract following threats of legal action

PFL releases former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi following threats of legal actionGegard Mousasi is a free man. One day after the former Bellator middleweight champion slammed the PFL, calling it…

PFL releases former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi following threats of legal action

Gegard Mousasi is a free man.

One day after the former Bellator middleweight champion slammed the PFL, calling it “the worst organization” and threatening them with legal action, the promotion’s head of fighter operations, Mike Kogan, confirmed that Mousasi has been released from his contract.

PFL releases Gegard Mousasi

“Bellator has released Gegard Mousasi from his agreement,” Kogan wrote. “We wish him all the best fighting in his next chapter.”

While Mousasi has not yet commented on the situation, his manager, Nima Safapour of Moments Management, referred to the release as “alleged” and called out the promotion for not standing by their “fighter first” mantra.

“We will not comment on the merits of the alleged release at this time for obvious reasons,” Safapour said in a written statement provided to MMA Junkie. “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.”

Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi’s Threats of Legal action draw a response from pFL founder Donn Davis

Gegard Mousasi has not competed since a unanimous decision loss to Fabian Edwards in May 2023. 11 months prior, he surrendered his Bellator belt to Johnny Eblen. Following the PFL’s acquisition of the promotion late last year, Mousasi has vented his frustration over being shelved, accusing the PFL of refusing to honor his contract by asking him to take a pay cut.

“They said that the amount [of money I get paid], we don’t want to cut you, it’s so much, that it’s better for you, I don’t know, look somewhere else or do something else,” Mousasi said Wednesday on The MMA Hour.

“At this moment, I’m like, listen, if someone doesn’t want me, I’m like, ‘F*ck it. Let’s go.’ But my team around me is like, ‘F*ck it, we’ll sue them.’ If it was up to me, I would just go, but I don’t know. We’ll see. The team around me is not that happy. So I think there is going to be legal action against them.“

During a recent appearance on the Weighing In podcast with ‘Big’ John McCarthy and Josh Thomson, PFL founder Donn Davis disputed Mousasi’s claim, suggesting that while they plan to honor every Bellator contract, they can’t guarantee every fighter will get exactly what they’re asking for.

“Occasionally we’ll have a fighter grumble,” Davis said. “It’s one of 205 (fighters we 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, mangers – we’re direct, fair and reasonable. 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 specifics 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.”

Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards Headlines Bellator Paris, MMA Twitter Reacts

Having lost the title in 2022, former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will look to rebound when he meets Fabian Edwards in the main event of Bellator Paris this year. After a successful return to Paris last May, which featured victories for heavyw…

Having lost the title in 2022, former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will look to rebound when he meets Fabian Edwards in the main event of Bellator Paris this year. After a successful return to Paris last May, which featured victories for heavyweight king Ryan Bader and Yoel Romero, Bellator MMA will return to France’s capital…

Continue Reading Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards Headlines Bellator Paris, MMA Twitter Reacts at MMA News.

Johnny Eblen Dominates Gegard Mousasi To Claim Bellator Middleweight Title, Fellow Fighters React

Johnny EblenAt Bellator 282, Gegard Mousasi had his four-fight winning streak snapped as undefeated contender Johnny Eblen put a five-round beating on ‘The Dreamcatcher’ to claim the Bellator 185lb title. Gegard Mousasi went into the fight a heavy favorite, but from the first round, it became apparent that the odds did not reflect how the fight […]

Johnny Eblen

At Bellator 282, Gegard Mousasi had his four-fight winning streak snapped as undefeated contender Johnny Eblen put a five-round beating on ‘The Dreamcatcher’ to claim the Bellator 185lb title.

Gegard Mousasi went into the fight a heavy favorite, but from the first round, it became apparent that the odds did not reflect how the fight would truly play out. Eblen had Mousasi hurt in the first few minutes, using crisp boxing to light the now former champ up. This would be the story of the fight, as Eblen continued to land one-two combination’s on Mousasi, and then utilized his wrestling skills to dominate when the fight entered the grappling realms.

Whilst it looked like the fight was close to being finished on numerous occasions, Eblen ultimately controlled every single round, picking up a one-sided unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45).

Fighters React To Johnny Eblen’s Impressive Victory

Unsurprisingly, Johnny Eblen’s title-winning victory over Mousasi caused waves all across the MMA social media space. The new champ had numerous fellow fighters reacting, in both positive and negative ways.

UFC BMF title holder, Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal, sent out a message of support to the ATT teammate, congratulating Eblen for picking up the upset victory.

However, Yoel Romero, who is coming off his own impressive win in the Bellator middleweight division, posted a challenge to the newly crowned champion:

Johnny Eblen also received support from another Bellator title holder, as welterweight champion Logan Storley posted:

What did you think of Johnny Eblen’s title winning performance?

Khabib Nurmagomedov Says Bellator’s “Gegard Mousasi Is The Most Underrated Fighter In MMA”, Another Former UFC Champion Agrees

Khabib Nurmagomedov, Gegard Mousasi, Lyoto MachidaFormer UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Gegard Mousasi is the most underrated fighter in the sport. Gegard Mousasi is set to take on Johnny Eblen this Friday at Bellator 282. His last outing came against Austin Vanderford earlier in February in Dublin, Ireland. Mousasi put on a sensational performance needing less than a minute […]

Khabib Nurmagomedov, Gegard Mousasi, Lyoto Machida

Former UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Gegard Mousasi is the most underrated fighter in the sport.

Gegard Mousasi is set to take on Johnny Eblen this Friday at Bellator 282. His last outing came against Austin Vanderford earlier in February in Dublin, Ireland. Mousasi put on a sensational performance needing less than a minute and a half to dispatch his opponent in the main event.

A trend we see repeated in his fights is his calmness inside the cage. Vanderford came out swinging hard from the first minute and despite throwing the kitchen sink at the 36-year-old Dutchman, he was unable to pressure him out of his game. Mousasi handed ‘The Gentleman’ the first loss of his professional career.

Khabib Nurmagomedov says “Gegard Mousasi is the most underrated fighter”

Following the win at Bellator 275, Khabib Nurmagomedov took to Twitter to heap praises on Mousasi.

“@mousasi_mma is the most underrated fighter in MMA today. Congratulations Gegard #Bellator275“

Mousasi’s next bout is against another undefeated challenger in Johnny Elben who also happens to train at the American Top Team gym alongside Vanderford. The pair will take to the octagon at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Currently on a four-fight win streak, ‘The Dreamcatcher’ has won 12 of his last 13 fights including his time in the UFC.

Lyoto Machida shares support for Mousasi

Another former UFC champion who expressed his support for Mousasi is Lyoto Machida, who fought Mousasi on two occasions, winning and losing one each.

“Nobody believes in what he can do, because his technique is very ordinary, nothing flashy,” said Machida. “But it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t kick as high as someone else, or he doesn’t do jump knees. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that he is good everywhere, so well-rounded and so calm. He can fight anybody and has fought everybody, and he wins.” (h/t ESPN)

The Bellator middleweight also has a win over Mark Hunt. Mousasi took on the much larger “Super Samoan” in a 2009 tournament under Dream, and managed to secure a first-round straight armbar submission.

Meanwhile, Gegard Mousasi remains unaffected by the talks. Much like Fedor Emelianenko, the composed Mousasi does not care about the titles and has only one aim ahead. “I don’t give a f— about belts,” Mousasi said. “I’m here to make money.”