MMA: MOUSASI MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN JAPANESE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Anthony Malakian, PA SportsTicker
Vancouver Sun
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Canada
Going into the DREAM middleweight tournament, most American fight
fans had probably never heard of Gegard Mousasi, an Armenian-born
mixed martial artist who now calls Holland home.
The 23-year-old had made a name for himself as a striking coach for
the great Fedor Emelianenko, but prior to fighting for the Japan-based
DREAM organization, his most notable win was when he stopped journeyman
Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos back in February.
Fighting at the famed Saitama Super Arena in Japan early Tuesday
morning, Mousasi firmly established himself as one of the elite
middleweights in the world by dominating both Melvin Manhoef and
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to win the DREAM middleweight tournament.
You don’t get to be a striking coach for Emelianenko without being a
top-tier muay thai practitioner, but Mousasi showed off his ground
game against Manhoef in the first semifinal bout of the tournament
that began at DREAM 2 back in April.
Manhoef, who is also a Dutchman, is a fearsome striker and has a
similar fighting style and temperament as Quinton Jackson. Not wanting
to stand with the 32 year old, Mousasi shot in and worked his way to
secure the takedown.
Manhoef (22-5-1) was able to spin around for a reversal, but spun
right into a triangle-choke submission. Manhoef did his best "Rampage"
Jackson impression, picked Mousasi up and tried to slam him to the
ground to break the hold.
All it did, though, was make the submission tighter and Manhoef tapped
out a minute-and-a-half into the first round.
In the finals Mousasi (24-2-1) faced Souza, whom many believed to
be the favorite to win the tournament from the very beginning. Souza
submitted Croatia’s Zelg Galesic in their semifinal-round bout with
an armbar a minute-and-a-half into the first round.
"In this tournament, I have become friends with Zelg and Jacare,"
Mousasi said. "They helped me. I’m happy that I won, but I consider
them as my friends, so it was hard for me to [fight] Jacare."
Like so many of his countrymen, Souza, a Brazilian, is a whiz on the
ground. So when Souza took Mousasi to the mat with a pretty double-leg
takedown to start the fight, it seemed as though the Dutch-Armenian’s
dream run to the belt was in severe danger.
>From his back, Mousasi pushed the Brazilian away. As Souza jumped back
in with a right hand, Mousasi ended the fight with a perfectly timed
upkick to Souza’s jaw. Souza (10-2) went limp and the referee stopped
the fight two minutes and fifteen seconds into the opening round.
In addition to his wins over Manhoef and Souza, Mousasi also upset
Denis Kang, a highly regarded fighter from Canada, with a triangle
choke in the first round of the tournament at DREAM 2.
Fourteen of his wins have come by knockout or stoppage and he has
eight submission victories to his ledger.
Mousasi has now won 11 fights in a row and is a front-runner for
fighter of the year with a record of 6-0 in 2008. His last loss came
in 2006 when Akihiro Gono submitted him in the second round with
an armbar.
In other notable bouts, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who was once
considered one of the best heavyweights in the world, was getting
beat by Alistair Overeem in their heavyweight fight.
Overeem, though, kept landing numerous knees to Filipovic’s groin. The
final knee forced the Croatian to his back where he laid for several
minutes before it was deemed that he could not continue. The bout
was declared a no-contest.
Top-lightweight contender Shinya Aoki submitted an over-matched Todd
Moore in the first round with a neck crank. Hayato Sakurai won a
close decision over Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
In a bout between two fan favorites, Masakatsu Funaki submitted
Ikuhisa Minowa with a heal hook a minute into the first round and
Sergei Kharitonov stopped Jimmy Ambriz in the first round.
Ambriz tapped out due to the onslaught of strikes.