Update: Gegard Mousasi signs six-fight contract with Bellator MMA

UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi is reportedly on his way to Bellator MMA, where he’ll be reuniting with Scott Coker.

It looks as if Bellator MMA has added another top-10 UFC fighter to its roster. Unconfirmed reports are coming in that Gegard Mousasi has become the latest UFC free agent to join Scott Coker’s promotion. MMAjunkie’s Chamaktar Sandhu tweeted out the following on Monday:

The folks at Kimura.se have also reported Mousasi’s move to Bellator, with their sources saying that the “UFC refused to raise Mousasi’s salary. Their new lawyer who handled the negotiations with Mousasi’s team did not think Mousasi was big enough name.”

Well Mousasi (42-6-2) may not have ever featured in a UFC PPV main event, he was at least the co-main event in 11 of his 12 appearances inside the Octagon. Mousasi’s UFC contract expired following his wacky, bizarre second-round TKO win over former champion Chris Weidman in April. He’s on a five-fight winning streak, with stoppages in four of those victories. Mousasi is still in the UFC’s rankings system, and at this time he’s currently #4 on the list of contenders at 185.

If this signing is true, it’s a major loss in terms of depth for an otherwise very old UFC middleweight division. Outside of Robert Whittaker, who became the interim champion on Saturday night at UFC 213, the only other ranked 185 contenders who are younger than the 31-year-old Mousasi are Krzyzstof Jotko and Sam Alvey. It’s also obviously a major plus for Bellator’s rather shallow middleweight pool, and surely he’d be granted an immediate title shot against champion Rafael Carvalho upon making his promotional debut. Edit: As pointed out to me by Chris27 in the comments, Rafael Carvalho vs. Alessio Sakara is reportedly targeted for December, so chances are Mousasi is going to fight at least once before getting a title shot against the winner of that title fight.

Bloody Elbow will keep you up to date on any further details regarding Mousasi joining the likes of Lorenz Larkin, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Matt Mitrione, Benson Henderson, and Rory MacDonald as former UFC fighters who now compete under the Bellator banner. For Mousasi, he’s reuniting with Coker, who was his promoter when he competed in Strikeforce.

Update: The news is official. Gegard Mousasi has signed a six-fight deal with Bellator MMA.

“I’m looking forward to be champion there,” Mousasi said (via MMA Fighting). “If I achieve that, I look forward to going a division up and getting the 205 belt. But first the middleweight belt. That’s my goal.”