Gegard Mousasi lashes out at PFL over lack of communication, refusal to book him since buying Bellator
If Gegard Mousasi can send one message to the combat sports world right now, it’s that he’s not retired despite not fighting for nearly a year.
His last appearance came in Bellator in May 2023 when he lost a decision to Fabian Edwards, but he’s been anxiously awaiting his chance to compete again. Sadly, Mousasi says ever since PFL acquired Bellator, he’s been sidelined with no clear indication of when he may get booked for a fight, and he’s grown frustrated with the lack of communication.
“The problem is we cannot get ahold of them,” Mousasi told MMA Fighting. “They refuse to answer us back. I’ve been training, I’ve been ready. But like I said, they don’t promote me, or people think I’m retired actually. People don’t even know. After my fight, Fabian Edwards fought twice, and since then, they don’t even talk to us. I know I have a contract with them. I know they are obligated to give me those fights. I’m just waiting and I don’t know. Just waiting, what can I do?
“I tried to fight Derek Brunson [in Saudi Arabia]. But they said, ‘Do you want to fight?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, give me a fight,’ but I heard nothing from them anymore.”
When the deal closed for PFL to acquire Bellator from Paramount, company co-founder Donn Davis said the promotion intended to keep the entire roster of fighters, with hopes that even executives and team members from behind the scenes would make the transition.
Many key people did move over as part of the acquisition, including Bellator matchmaker Mike Kogan as well as members of the public relations staff, but there were a number of fighters ultimately released. Mousasi claims he was told that at least all of the top 10 from every division would make the move from Bellator to PFL, and he definitely qualified as the former middleweight champion who was only two fights removed from holding the belt.
Mousasi promises he’s made multiple attempts to get booked on one of the upcoming Bellator fight cards, but to no avail. He believes at least part of the reason comes down to the contractually obligated paycheck he’s set to earn.
“My manager tried to contact them, nothing,” Mousasi said. “I tried to contact Mike [Kogan] because that’s the only guy I know, and I haven’t really heard back from him either. Maybe, politics, they try to force me to take lesser paychecks, but I know other fighters make the same amount and they already fought. For whatever reason, they don’t want to give me a fight.
“I talked to Mike Kogan, he suggested, ‘Well, you make too much money.’ He said, ‘I would get back to you after I talk to them because they cannot let you hang like this.’ I haven’t heard from him either.”
Since combining rosters, Davis declared that his new company is no longer competing for the No. 2 spot behind the UFC as the top promotion in combat sports. Instead, Davis prefers to use the term “co-leader” when addressing PFL’s standing with the UFC.
Mousasi vehemently disagrees with that declaration, at least based on his experience thus far.
“The problem is they want to be the No. 2 company, but they don’t act like it,” Mousasi said. “I told them at least say what you want to do with me so I can move on with life. Whatever I want to do with my career, so I can move on. They don’t even let me speak to them. That’s the problem. They don’t let you know, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that.’ We email them, they don’t respond.
“I talk to Mike Kogan because that’s the only guy I know that moved from Bellator to PFL, he said he’s going to get back to me. He doesn’t get back to me. At this point, there’s nothing else to do but reach out through the media and say I’m not retired, I’m here, but they neglect their obligations.”
Mousasi’s longtime manager Nima Safapour says every attempt has been made to get his fighter booked for a return to action, but he just can’t get a definitive answer from PFL.
“Is this how we treat our legends now?” Safapour told MMA Fighting. “This business is such where people’s livelihoods are dependent on promoters doing what they say they’re going to do in good faith. We’ve been in touch with PFL and we were optimistic about the relationship and telling them we were excited to be their partner and help elevate the brand.
“Since the outset, they have made no effort to promote him or book him. To the point where I have to assume, they don’t have the intention of booking him even though they have an obligation.”
Mousasi can’t say for certain what will happen next, but he hopes by speaking publicly about the turmoil he’s facing that he’ll finally get some sort of resolution from PFL.
In a perfect world, Mousasi will get the call that he’s being booked to fight under the terms of the contract already in place from his previous Bellator deal, but he’s not sure that will happen.
“When you fight, you’re dependent on the promoters to give you fights,” Mousasi said. “The UFC gave me a lot of fights, they paid me less. I came to Bellator, I got paid more but I fought less. Now PFL, they don’t even let me know what’s going on. There’s always something, but this one is the worst, to be honest.
“I don’t know what they want to do. Just have the respect of [saying], ‘We don’t want you or we don’t want to give you a fight or you make too much money.’ Give me a reason so I know what I’m up to. Like I said, no communication, and [when there is] communication it’s like, ‘You get paid too much.’”