Ariel Helwani and Swedish web site Kimura.se are reporting that UFC Light Heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson will welcome ex-Strikeforce champ Gegard Mousasi to the UFC at UFC on Fuel TV 9 on April 6 in Sweden. At this time it is believed that only verbal agreements are in place so changes are a possibility, as always until fights are officially announced by the UFC.
Update: Ryan O’Leary from MMAViking.com originally broke this news.
MMA Viking is able to announce that Alexander Gustafsson (15-1 overall, 7-1 in the UFC) will face Gegard Mousasi (33-3 overall, 5-1 in the StrikeForce) at the UFC in Sweden on April 6. In interview today with MMA Viking, The Mauler revealed his plans for his return to Stockholm.
Here’s more from Ariel Helwani:
Gustafsson and Mousasi have verbally agreed to meet on April 6 in Sweden. The event is expected to be dubbed UFC on FUEL TV 9. MMAFighting.com confirmed the story with one source earlier in the week, and Swedish MMA Web site Kimura.se is reporting Gustafsson announced the fight at a gym opening in Sweden on Saturday. This will mark the UFC’s second trip to Sweden. UFC on FUEL TV 2, also headlined by Gustafsson, was held in Stockholm, Sweden last April, and the sold-out event was a rousing success. The same report states UFC on FUEL TV 9 will also be held at Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe Arena.
This is an extremely competitive match up and presents a stern test to both fighters. The 26-year-old Gustafsson is 15-1 with 6 straight wins in the UFC since losing to Phil Davis in his organizational debut. Gustafsson has finished such notables as Matt Hamill, Cyrille Diabate, James Te-Huna and Vladimir Matyushenko and decisioned the formidable Thiago Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. He’s seen as one of the divisions few promising title opponents for champion Jon Jones.
For his part, Mousasi is 27 years old, carries a 33-3-2 pro MMA record with lots of big fights in Strikeforce and Dream. He submitted Mike Kyle at the final Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine last Saturday and went 4-1-1 overall in Strikeforce. During his SF tenure he was concurrently fighting in Dream where he went 9-0. He briefly held the Strikeforce LHW belt after beating Renato Sobral but quickly lost it in a decision to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
Both men are able kickboxers and submission grapplers with the lanky 6’5″ Swede Gustafsson having only a 1/2 reach advantage over the 6’1″ Dutch/Armenian Mousasi.
This is a high stakes bout for both fighters as Gustafsson has nearly earned a title shot and Mousasi could quickly vault up the rankings with a win over the Swede. However the low profile of Fuel TV events (which are seen by a small fraction of the number of fans who see UFC bouts on FX, Fox or pay-per-view) means that the winner would need another win on a high visibility platform to be much more than “an opponent” against Jones in the promotional sense.