Gegard Mousasi retained his Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship belt and improved his outstanding record to 28-2-1, 15 KOs, with a second-round ref stoppage over a very "game" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou live on CBS Saturday night.
Mousasi is now on a 15-fight winning streak, notching another victory after coming off his greatest performance to date—a spectacular first-round crowd-thrilling knockout over Renalto " Babalu" Sobral at the last Strikeforce event in August on the Gina Carano-Kris Cyborg undercard.
Tonight, Sokoudjou, a black belt in judo, showed why he is one of the most highly respected fighters in the game, by giving Mousasi his hands full in the first round and taking the champion to the mat numerous times in the second before being mounted, dominated, and subsequently pounded into submission.
Soko was much stronger physically than Mousasi, or so it seemed, and also displayed much better wrestling and judo technique, which served to baffle the quick-handed champion somewhat.
However, Mousasi, being an outstanding grappler and a member of the Red Devil International Sport Club, has amazing natural hand speed, which, during his youth, allowed him to become a boxing champion in the Netherlands at the amateur level.
The hard accurate pinpoint striking from Mousasi was what made the difference in this match.
The 24-year-old Mousasi isn't a household name as of yet; however, if the elite Dutch-Armenian kickboxer continues to thrill fans with his winning ways, as he did tonight, he will soon be on his way to being just that.
My personal feelings are that Mousasi is one of the top cage-fighters in the game, but it's also my opinion that he is playing in the wrong field; he would gain much better exposure in the top organization, The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
I'm also hoping, as a fan, that Mousasi—if he plays his cards right, and depending on the uncertain future of Strikeforce and Dream fighting promotions—will find himself competing there one day, against arguably some of the greatest fighters in the world.
Recently, Mousasi has been in a war of words with former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho, who stated that he would like to compete in a "winner take all" match with the newly crowned Strikeforce champion.
This would be a great matchup and certainly a possible one, as both fight for the same organizations, both are young, and both are quick-striking-style fighters. And both certainly have their greatest fights yet to come.
Best of luck in the future to this outstanding young cage fighter.
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