Roger Gracie in talks to fight Gegard Mousasi at April 9th event
Posted on February 25, 2011, 02:45 AM by Daniel CassidyNews broke today that Former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi is expected to make his long awaited return to the cage Stateside on April 9th, most likely against Multi time grappling Champion Roger Gracie.
While no official announcements have been made regarding the event, it is rumoured that the planned Heavyweight tournament bouts will be postponed until after the event, and Strikeforce are currently in talks to fill the currently vacant card. With no fighter having yet put pen to paper, it is believed a verbal agreement has been reached with the two parties. Gilbert Melendez is currently in talks to face Tatsuya Kawajiri with "El Nino's" Lightweight title on the line. Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz too is in talks to defend his belt, potentially against hard Hitting Brit Paul Daley, should he beat Yuya Shirai at this weekend's BAMMA 5 event.
Since suffering his first loss in 5 years to "King" Mo Lawal in his last Strikeforce appearance, Gegard Mousasi has fought twice under the DREAM banner, winning both bouts against Jake O'Brien and Tatsuya Mizuno on the same night to capture the first ever DREAM Light Heavyweight title. The former Strikeforce Champ also currently holds the DREAM Middleweight title. Mousasi had been rumoured to be fighting Mike Kyle upon his return, but it seems Strikeforce have abandoned their original idea.
For the currently undefeated Roger Gracie, Mousasi will easily be his toughest test to date. Arguably the best grappler in the world and hailing from the prestigious Gracie family, he recently won his fourth pro fight against Trevor Prangley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs Cyborg. His first bout for the California promotion saw him defeat Kevin Randleman, his third win via Rear naked choke. All four of the ADCC Champion's MMA wins have come via submission.
Source: MMA Weekly
Comments
wow ...great matchup!!! striker vs grappler. gracie is the best grappler at the time and mousasi is well rounded with K1 level stand up!!! pls make it happen
Mousasi is no slouch on the matt, but Gracie is clearly the better.of the two. im not certain what Gracie's no-gi credentials are though, perhaps Mousasi's MMA grappling experience could play a big advantage, as we saw gracie reaching for a non existant Gi in his fight with Kevin Randleman
woah...talk about a massive step up in competition for gracie, hes one of the coolest, most decent guys in mma buti dont give him much hope against mousassi if im honest...
the man who can fight in his comfort zone will win this fight!! dont think that mousasi will try to grapple with roger!! mousasi has more skills on the ground than gracie in the stand up, that would be stupid!!!
Gracie is an ADCC (which is no gi) winner at his weight class and at absolute. Gi or no Gi, the guy is the best grappler around. What makes this fight super interesting is that gegard showed poor take down defense against King Mo; if Roger works on his take downs this will be a very tough fight for Mousasi.
no no, i agree, but what i mean is that Gegard has the skills to get out of trouble, if he ends up grappling
maybe?! roger on the ground is like a.silva in the stand up!!
I love that picture lol
GM is a really good fighter, but if the fight goes to the ground, I have my money on Roger Gracie.
This should be a good fight. Gracies stand up was suspect at best his last couple fights. I think Mousasi should easily win this. Call me out if I am wrong. No gii no win!
bad match-up imo. they need to bring Gracie up the ranks gradually.
i agree. this isnt even a step up in competition its a whole god dam leap. I think it will make for an interesting match but gegard is way too much for roger at this point
yes its a big step, but roger gracie earns 75.ooo$ pro fight without win bonus!! strikefoce must give him big fights!!!
I actually think this fight is a great fight for Roger AND Gegard. Roger is ready for top tier guys. He is basically the LHW equivalent of Damian Maia but even better. Gegard faces a real challenge here which is what he needs to get back in the mix in SF. This fight should be epic. The fact that SF can put this together off the cuff just shows how great of an org they are becoming. Hopefully they get the tourni sorted out quick.
while i believe moussasi has the edge in this fight his takedown d was not so hot against lawall so there is a good oppurtunity for a sub for gracie.
Oh shit this is going to be one hell of a fight. :-o
It's true GM's take down defense is lacking. But the Gracie is no wrestler. Gegard clearly has the advantage in the stand up, he just beat Kyotaro. Also there are clips of him with Jacare, i don't know if they are training but if he is, it'll defiantly help sense Jacare and Roger have met in competition on a few occasions, i think they split at 2-2.
correction. I think it's 3-2 for the Gracie.
This fight would be awesome... but Roger has zero chance. While Roger's ground game is better than Mousasi's, Roger can't takedown anyone if his life depended on it.
I foresee Mousasi TKOing Gracie in round one.
I like this fight. It would be nice of Hoger had a little more time to develop, especially with his stand up and wrestling takedowns.
But the reality is that there is not enough depth in Strikeforce LHW ranks to allow for a gradual learning curve.
This is an interesting fight--and it is in LHW. Strikeforce keeps getting more and more credible in every weight class.