Gegard Mousasi: I'm Fighting Vitor Belfort, Fedor to Fight Josh Barnett Both at Affliction's January Show

by Luke Thomas on Sep 30, 2008 4:46 PM EDT in MMA News

DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi expects to face Vitor Belfort on Affliction’s next MMA show in January.

Speaking to Fighters Only this week, he revealed that the US organisation wants him to fight the Brazilian, while Red Devil team mate Fedor Emelianenko may face Josh Barnett.

“I’m going to train with Fedor in preparation for Affliction in January,” he said. “I think it is Fedor against Josh Barnett and they want me to fight Vitor Belfort.”

Mousasi is part of the Red Devil International team and he shares a manager with Fedor in the shape of Vadim Finkelstein.

Notice Mousasi said "think" in regards to Fedor vs. Barnett, but it's worth acknowleding in this space. The more important story, though, is that if true Affliction scrapped their Arlovski vs. Barnett fight in favor of bringing Fedor into the fold. Without getting confirmation from Affliction regarding these developments we should take the news with a grain of salt. But if true, this portends a great deal for Arlovski and his future with Affliction as well as Golden Boy's first co-promoted show. Add to that having Mousasi introduced to American fans and we have exciting (though not terribly marketable) developments.

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what does this mean for Matt Lindland?

did someone finally bust out an adding machine and figure out that they grossly overpaid him for his last fight?
Also, I like Belfort’s chances against Mousasi.

by Kid Nate on Sep 30, 2008 1:32 PM EDT reply actions

Vitor Belfort is very similar to Mousasi in terms of rounded-ness. However I Belfort has the takedown defense and the strikes to overwhelm Mousasi if he plays his cards right. I am interested to see if Mousasi can continue to win as he has been.

by KneeToTheFace on Sep 30, 2008 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

Fedor vs. Barnett… please be true.

by Nick Thomas on Sep 30, 2008 1:48 PM EDT reply actions

I am sick of being teased by these “potential” super fights.

I want Barnett vs AA

or I want Barnett vs Fedor

Just give me something affliction, instead of super one sided fights and broken promises :(

by dbcb on Sep 30, 2008 1:53 PM EDT reply actions

Not going to get my hopes up

if it happens, it happens. Though Mousasi vs Belfort I would be excited for.

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by achengy on Sep 30, 2008 2:01 PM EDT reply actions

Filed under “I’ll believe it when I see it”.

And by that I mean Fedor/Barnett AND another Affliction card.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Sep 30, 2008 2:04 PM EDT reply actions

didnt Mousasi just retire from mma a few days ago? im with you on this one.

by bdw on Sep 30, 2008 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions

whoops! that was Manhoeff. i still believe it when i see it.

by bdw on Sep 30, 2008 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

BTW, just watched Mousasi on the M1 Challenge. He impresses me more every time I see him.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Sep 30, 2008 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

Mousasi is awesome, but Affliction still sucks

They’re going to go down as the last organization stupid enough to try to keep a fighter from the UFC. Hell, Fertitti praised STRIKEFORCE the other day as an example of what a regional promotion should be – although God be with them if they try to lock Cung Le down once he’s beaten someone better than Frank Shamrock circa 2007.

I like Fedor Barnett and Fedor Arlovski. But you know what I WANT? Fedor Randy. Fedor Brock. Fedor Nog IV (yes, good ground battles are just as good as good standup battles). Fedor Carwin, for Christ’s sake. Either settle for being a regional league that treats fighters (and fans) well – and then wishes them luck when they make the show – or get the fuck out of the way.

by Derek Suboticki on Sep 30, 2008 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

LOL…what a UFC tool.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 30, 2008 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t go slinging insults if I were you.

by Michaelthebox on Sep 30, 2008 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions

If Affliction disappeared tommorrow, Fedor would be fighting for K-1 or beating up pro wrestlers for Inoki shortly thereafter. He doesn’t want to sign with the UFC with what they’re offering him, and the UFC won’t offer him anything else.

by D.Capitated on Oct 1, 2008 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions

weird Mousasi told Inside MMA

that he wanted to fight Akiyama for DREAM and then move up to Light Heavyweight.

by Kid Nate on Sep 30, 2008 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

It seems Mousasi and Fedor both have conflicting obligations – and with the same organizations no less. Fedor will no doubt disappoint a lot of Japanese fans if he does not fight in Japan at NYE. And Mousasi would be missing out on a potential semi-superfight if he doesn’t fight Akiyama fresh off his GP win. If both Mousasi and Fedor go to Affliction, DREAM could have huge problems trying to staying alive in 2009.

by Flying Gogoplata on Oct 1, 2008 6:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Mousasi is a top talent. I love the guy. I love Belfort too. It’ll be a tough fight for me to watch since I really do like both guys. I’d pick Mousasi because he does have the better all-around right now although Belfort’s striking is top notch. His ground game is really sick too. I just think Mousasi is on too big of a roll right now. And there will be another Affliction event. Those saying that there won’t be are just brainwashed by the UFC. And as a man that was at the first Affliction show, they had great fights. It was just bad production.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Sep 30, 2008 7:54 PM EDT reply actions