By Steve Ficca, FightTicker.com Blogger

Gegard Mousasi is highly regarded as one of the toughest young fighters in the world. Mousasi is a former Dream Middleweight Champion and holds victories over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Melvin Manhoef, and Mark Hunt. On August 1 at Affliction: Trilogy, Mousasi will fight Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Mousasi recently spoke about his plans for the fight...

From MMAMania.com:

By Steve Ficca, FightTicker.com Blogger

The card for August's Affliction III keeps getting better and better. It is now being reported that Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and former UFC star Renato "Babalu" Sobral will meet Gegard Mousasi at the event, dubbed "Trilogy." M-1Global.com reported today that the bout has been finalized and will take place at 205 pounds.

From M-1Global.com:

By SteveFicca, FightTicker.com Blogger

Recently it was announced that Vitor Belfort would be facing Gegard Mousasi this August at Affliction III. It turns out, however, that this bout might be in jeopardy. Belfort, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, told Tatame.com that he would only go through with the fight if if was held at 185 pounds. Mousasi, on the other hand, no longer believes that he can make that weight and would like to fight Belfort at a heavier catchweight.

From M-1Global.com:

By John Buhl, FightTicker.com blogger

I've thrown around the term "freakshow" before to describe an MMA match here and there. Anything involving Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi comes to mind. But DREAM 9 will step the circus factor up a notch on May 26th, with the Super Hulk Tournament -- an open weight grand prix that's so laughable that it truly sets a new standard for sideshow entertainment.

Of course Sapp and Choi are in the mix, but so is Jose Canseco. Let the fun begin!

By Tom Casale, FightTicker.com Blogger

Eight months after losing to Gegard Mousasi in the finals of DREAM's 2008 middleweight grand prix, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (10-2) will return to action at DREAM.9, according to a recent report from Tatame.com.

By John Buhl, FightTicker.com blogger

Though he established himself as a middleweight contender after winning the DREAM 185-pound tournament, Gegard Mousasi could already be set to make his previously discussed jump to the light heavyweight division. According to FiveOuncesofPain.com, Mousasi may fight UFC and PRIDE veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou on May 25 at DREAM 9.

From FiveOuncesofPain.com:

By John Buhl, FightTicker.com blogger

Gegard Mousasi opened up a lot of eyes by winning the DREAM middleweight tournament last year, but Mousasi already plans to move up to light heavyweight rather than defend his title, according to Sherdog.com:

From the Sherdog.com interview:

From Nightmare of Battle:

Two new fights were announced for Dynamite!! today. Tatsuya Kawajiri will make his K-1 debut as he takes on K-1 MAX veteran Takeda Kozo and DREAM Middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will take on K-1 veteran Musashi in a K-1 rules fight.

I know a lot of fans were eagerly awaiting Mousasi's next fight. There was speculation that he would be fighting Vitor Belfort on the Affliction PPV that will be taking place in January. Mousasi is coming off a great year that saw him win the Dream MW Grand Prix by defeating Denis Kang, Dong Sik Yoon, Melvin Manhoef and Jacare Souza. Pretty impressive list for an entire career let alone one year! Mousasi went 6-0 in 2008, adding victories against Steve Mensing & Evangelista Santos.

Originally posted on MMAOpinion.com.

For submission grapplers and submission grappling fans, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club is, bar none, the greatest contest of skill that the world of no-gi has to offer. While the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships satisfy the desire of the BJJ traditionalists, the cutting edge of submission grappling is on display at ADCC.

Every major grappling icon of this generation competes, and now the Combat Club will welcome two more members: reigning heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko and Dream middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. Fedor’s grappling has already been well-demonstrated in MMA and in Combat Sambo, but it has never been tested in pure grappling against the greatest minds in the sport. Mousasi’s game is also a relative unknown, as many are unsure how it will operate without strikes (like the upkick he used to put down former ADCC champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza).

From MMAJunkie.com:

"First I want to thank everybody that supported me to reach my goal of becoming the DREAM grand prix champion," Mousasi stated. "I see this title as the stepping stone to accomplish my real desire, and that is to also become the world champion in boxing."

"In MMA I will go up to 93 kilograms (205 pounds)," Mousasi stated. "Not only to increase my strength, but if I fight between 85 and 93 kilograms in boxing, I have quite a wide range to test my skills before I decide in which weight class I enter boxing competition."

I would much rather see Mousasi concentrate on MMA and staying at 185 for now. He is supremely talented and I hate to see a guy of his caliber leaving the sport, even for a short period of time. With that being said, if he was to jump to boxing and be successful, that would lend some credence to the fact that MMA fighters are better than boxers.

As far as moving up to 205, if he was in the UFC it would be worthwhile because that is where all the world's best light heavyweights are. Who is there for him to fight at 205 outside of the UFC? At 185 he can fight Vitor Belfort, Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, Matt Lindland, Robbie Lawler and a rematch with Jacare is always a possibility too. In addition, I'd rather see him make a name for himself over here in the states and then seek out the other opportunities.

From FightersOnlyMagazine.co.uk:

DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi expects to face Vitor Belfort on Affliction’s next MMA show in January.

Mousasi is part of the Red Devil International team and he shares a manager with Fedor in the shape of Vadim Finkelstein.

If this is true this is awesome. I was so impressed with Mousasi in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix and all it takes is one high profile fight in the US for him to get more of the American fans on his bandwagon.

Belfort has confirmed that he has been offered a fight on this card but hasn't revealed an opponent. He was originally scheduled to face Matt Lindland before he had to back out with an injury.

Barnett vs. Fedor, finally! This fight should have happened already although Fedor's younger brother Aleksander is also making noise about a rematch with Barnett.