Former champion Gegard Mousasi released from PFL-Bellator roster

Gegard Mousasi has been released, according to an announcement from PFL and Bellator officials.

The organization’s head of fighter operations, Mike Kogan, issued a statement that wished the fighter “all the best in his next fighting chapter” in a Thursday roster update.

This news comes shortly after Mousasi had made public statements about his dissatisfaction with the new PFL-Bellator brass and noted to MMAFighting earlier this week he was considering taking legal action against the organization.

Mousasi, who originally signed with Bellator MMA in 2017, has not had a fight scheduled since the PFL acquired the rival organization late in 2023.

It has been more than 12 months since Mousasi last fought. He is coming off back-to-back five-round unanimous decision losses to Johnny Eblen in June 2022 and Fabian Edwards in May 2023.

“I’ve been training in and out a little bit because I don’t get any news from the PFL or Bellator — people think I’m retired, actually,” Mousasi told MMAJunkie’s Mike Bohn in April. “I’m waiting for a fight. I have a contract with them but it feels like they don’t feel obligated to the contract. I knew there would be the sale. After that, there was no communication.

“We tried to contact PFL to get more information about what’s going on, what they want to do next. But it feels like they’re ignoring us. I talked to Mike (Kogan). He went from Bellator to PFL. I told him, ‘Give me information (about) what you want to do with me.’ They keep me on ice, let’s say. They feel like I’m getting paid too much. They don’t want to give me the fights. They owe me. But I know from other fighters that made the same, they fought already. There’s no effort from them.”

Mousasi, who turns 39 in August, has consistently been one of the top middleweights in mixed martial arts since the mid-2000s. He was a Cage Warriors titleholder, a Strikeforce champion, a two-weight DREAM champ and a two-time Bellator champion at 185 pounds.

The Dutch star competed under the UFC banner from 2013 to 2017 and left the organization in the middle of a five-fight winning streak. He never fought for a UFC belt despite going 9-3 in his dozen appearances that included notable wins over former champions Chris Weidman, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson. His three UFC losses were to Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo Souza and Uriah Hall, three fighters over whom he also holds a victory.