Monday afternoon, the MMA community was shocked to learn that top ranked UFC middleweight Gegard Mousasi had signed with Bellator MMA after being unable to reach a deal with the UFC.
Mousasi broke the news, which immediately hit social media, setting off a chain of reactions from members in the MMA community. Mousasi was of course in the midst of a 5-fight win streak going back to early 2016 when Mousasi bounced back from his TKO loss to Uriah Hall by defeating Thales Leites. Mousasi then rattled off four more straight wins, with his most recent being a 2nd round TKO win over Chris Weidman at UFC 210.
Below you can see Mousasi’s announcement, followed by reactions from members of the MMA community:
Proud to announce the signing of top middleweight Gegard @Mousasi to #BellatorMMA! Details in BIO
A post shared by Bellator MMA (@bellatormma) on
Reunited with another outstanding athlete. Welcome to the family @mousasi_mma!! https://t.co/qaZlydiXkg
advertisement – continue reading below— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) July 10, 2017
Get that Bellator money. Gegard Mousasi signs multi-fight Bellator deal after 4-year UFC run #onebyone #welcome
— Linton Vassell (@LDV_TheSwarm) July 10, 2017
advertisement – continue reading below
Congratulations to Gegard Mousasi!!!
— King Mo (@KingMoFH) July 10, 2017
@mousasi_mma congrats 👊🏻
— Henri Hooft (@henrihooft) July 10, 2017
The entire middleweight division in Bellator right meow #MMA pic.twitter.com/CB50OXAfM1
— Jordan Johnson (@doublejmma) July 10, 2017
Gegard to Bellator? Is this mean NO Armenian guy fighter in the UFC? I guess I better get my body together as soon as I can. 🙌 @Armenia_MMA
— Manny Gamburyan (@MannyGamburyan) July 10, 2017
Wow, this is huge! He's one of the most underrated 185ers in the world but gets no recognition. Hope he gets that at Bellator. https://t.co/OtTm9Fkkgc
— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) July 10, 2017
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/11/2017.