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UFC ON VERSUS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC on VERSUS on March 21 live from the FirstBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific!

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DREAM 13

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of DREAM 13 coming to you from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on March 22. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 3 AM Eastern/12 AM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS on March 26 live from the SavMart Center in Fresno, CA. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC 111: GSP VS. HARDY

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on March 27. The event will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and feature a heavyweight showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC FIGHT NIGHT: FLORIAN VS. GOMI

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BELLATOR XIII

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIII live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 8. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIV

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STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Strikeforce: Nashville live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN on April 17. The event will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson and feature the US debut of Japanese submission god Shinya Aoki! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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MFC 25: VINDICATION

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Mousasi faces 'Babalu' at Affliction: Trilogy

Written by Savage Science Staff   |   Thursday, July 09 2009

mousasitrilogyGegard Mousasi relinguished his DREAM middleweight championship to move up in weight and campaign at light heavyweight and heavyweight.  He'll face a tough challenge at Affliction: Trilogy against Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Renato 'Babalu' Sobral (Photo: Susumu Nagao)
In addition to the main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett, Affliction: Trilogy will feature the first US appearance by DREAM/K-1 veteran Gegard Mousasi.  He'll face reigning Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato 'Babalu' Sobral in a potential 'fight of the night'.  The profile below was provided by the Affliction PR team:

“All my focus is on Gegard Mousasi,” asserts current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-8-0) about his upcoming bout with the fast rising star. “He is a huge challenge for me. I look forward to stepping in there against a former Dream Middleweight Champion. This fight will be champion vs. champion.”

Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi (25-2-1) moved up in weight and will compete in a light middleweight bout against Sobral for Affliction M-1 Global’s “Trilogy” on August 1st at Honda Center in Anaheim. He has an impressive record, is currently ranked the #3 middleweight in the world by Sherdog and #7 middleweight by MMAWeekly, and made the majority of last year’s “Fighter of the Year” lists. Mousasi defeated Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza for the Dream title last September and heavyweight Mark Hunt in the first round of DREAM’s highly-publicized Super-Hulk Tournament at Dream 9.

Mousasi is managed under the Red Devil International banner, the same association Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko fights under, and the two have worked out together. Fedor, whose headline fight with Josh Barnett for “Trilogy” promises to be a blockbuster match up, has influenced Mousasi in a number of ways. The young fighter even speaks in the same calm, collected manner as the heavyweight champ. “Training with him, that’s also one of the reasons I thought I can be a heavyweight,” says Mousasi of Fedor. “Standing next to Fedor, I feel so much bigger than him. When you train with him, he feels like a middleweight. He’s as strong as a heavyweight but as fast as a middleweight, so I think that makes him special. If I can take my speed as a middleweight, have that explosiveness and mobility and move up to heavyweight, I think that’s something a lot of them don’t have.”

And Mousasi has the same quiet confidence in his abilities as Fedor, too. “I feel always that I’m physically stronger than my opponents. I feel like my opponents can’t hurt me because I’m always comfortable in stand-up and there hasn’t been a fighter that’s ground-and-pounded me,” he says. “I feel like I can hurt them, but they can’t hurt me.”

Still, Mousasi anticipates that facing Sobral in the ring will be a tough trial of his skills. “It’s a good test for me, I’m training very hard for it,” says the Dutch-Armenian mixed martial artist. “Babalu is a big challenge. I like the way he fights—he fights to win. He’s a real fighter. I like fighters who come to fight. This fight will be and all out war. I think the fans will get an exciting fight.”

Sobral agrees. “Mousasi is a great match for me. (It’s) a great match for him, too. He’s a true champion. People might not know him in the U.S., but he’s a true fighter. I’m very impressed with him.”

Sobral will pose the biggest challenge for Mousasi on the ground, where his years of experience and expertise will be a threat. “I think he will be the better wrestler and Jiu-Jitsu guy,” says Mousasi. “But none of that matters—this is MMA.”

And what does Mousasi bring to the table to try to unhinge Sobral’s advantage on the ground? “He’s hungry to fight,” states Babalu, “That’s the big difference. We both have great styles, so this fight will come down to youth vs. experience. Mousasi is a young, hungry fighter. He wants it. Against him I have the experience and strategy and the fight’s in my backyard. That makes me think it’s equal. We will see which mindset wins out.”

“Even if he could take me down, I don’t see him (being able to) ground and pound me,” says Mousasi of Sobral. “I don’t see him getting mount or top position (or) that he can do any damage. I don’t see him submit(ting) me. So eventually it’ll be a stand up fight again. And sooner or later, I’ll catch him.” Mousasi, who is enjoying an incredible 12 victory winning streak will be making his American fight debut at “Trilogy”—a great opportunity to increase his fast growing fan base.

“I’m going to fight stand up. If I can take him down, I’ll take him down,” the six-foot-one, two-hundred and sixteen pound competitor asserts. “I feel strong, I feel explosive. I’m very confident. I think I can beat him.”
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