Gegard Mousasi will cannonball into the deep end of Bellator MMA’s middleweight pool in a matter of days.
Mousasi makes his organizational debut against Alexander Shlemenko in the Bellator 185 main event this Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, where a victory would likely set the stage for “The Dreamcatcher” to challenge for the promotion’s middleweight championship sometime in 2018. The 32-year-old signed with Bellator on July 10 following a successful 12-bout stay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mousasi last competed at UFC 210 in April, when he cut down Chris Weidman with a volley of second-round knee strikes in Buffalo, New York.