Gegard Mousasi Wins DREAM Welterweight GP Tournament
Gegard Mousasi looked to be on his way to a loss to MMA’s self styled gator, Ronaldo Jacare. Jacare had been successful keeping the fight on the ground, though Mousasi was able to fend off a submission. Jacare then made a fateful choice, standing up and looking for a huge punch. He never knew what hit him and by the time he regained consciousness Mousasi had his hand raised as victor in the fight.
Jacare tried a Superman punch over the upkicks of the lanky Mousasi, who after missing with the first nailed his second kick perfectly and left the Brazilian knocked out cold. It was the Dutch fighters 2nd upset victory of the night, as he had submitted powerful Melvin Manhouf earlier in the event.
Jacare looked awesome in quickly dispatching of tough Zelig Galesic quickly with a slick armbar. It appeared that he was well on the way to the championship before a tactical error”and a well placed kick”changed the course of the fight.
In the co-main event, a long awaited matchup between Mirko Cro Cop and Alistair Overeem finished in a no contest after the Croatian striking machine was unable to continue following two low knee strikes. Cro Cop took a few minutes to recover from the first but was unable to continue after the second, with his corner indicating that the fighter had suffered some unspecified injury to the groin area.
Earlier in the evening, Shinya Aoki had no distress with tough WEC veteran Todd Moore. Moore tried to mount a striking attack early in the bout, only to have the wily Aoki take his back and lock in a standing rear naked choke.
In addition to the in-ring action, a highlight of the event was the appearance of the best heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. The Russian fighting god addressed the crowd and indicated that hed be fighting in Tokyo on New Years Eve without giving any specifics regarding his opponent. There had been some indication that hed meet the winner of the Cro Cop/Overeem bout but the no contest result puts that plot into serious doubt. Later in the evening in a uniquely Japanese moment, he presented a bouquet of flowers to each fighters cornermen before the Cro Cop/Overeem ring introductions.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer who has written on sports gambling and how to successfully bet on NFL football. He has appeared on TV and radio talking about boxing, hockey and NFL pointspreads. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a lynx.