Gegard Mousasi, the indie darling. The successor to Fedor Emelianenko. The former Strikeforce champion. The longtime toast of the Japanese scene has largely struggled in the UFC to this point. There have been wins, of course, including demolitions of Dan Henderson and Mark Munoz. The struggles in losses to Uriah Hall and Ronaldo Souza, however, have weighed far more heavily.
That made his fight against Thiago Santos at UFC 200 on Saturday an important one. Santos is a mystery to most fans, having come up through The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2 and spending much of his UFC career to this point on Brazilian cards. That obscurity has largely spread into the punditry, with few holding up Santos among the next wave of top middleweights such as Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker.
Despite that, Santos was a real threat to Mousasi. With a 5-2 record in his UFC career with four knockout victories to his name, Santos had the raw talent to become a top name at 185 pounds and the pure power to stop established fighters.
It was a massive risk for one man and a critical opportunity for the other. And that made it a great matchup to help get UFC 200 rolling.
The first round began cautiously on Santos' part. Mousasi pressed forward, pumping jabs and leg kicks, while Santos stayed on his bicycle. At the midpoint of the round, however, Mousasi clipped Santos with a combination and sent him to the ground. Santos defended but was forced to cede positions on the ground to survive.
For a split second, it seemed as though Santos had worked his way out from adversity and could get back to work on his feet. Mousasi, however, surprised both observers and Santos by sliding forward into a devastating uppercut. The punch landed clean and sent Santos crashing backward.
Mousasi poured on punishment and drew the stoppage at 4:32 of Round 1.
It's an important win for Mousasi. While Santos' name carries little weight on Mousasi's resume compared to the likes of Mark Hunt, Hector Lombard and Melvin Manhoef, this win preserves his place among the Top 10.
More importantly, it showed that Mousasi remains an impressive fighter. There have been occasional questions about his performances of late, with labels including "hype job" and "head case." While another loss will reignite that talk, this is an excellent win over a good name that should, at least for a time, silence some doubters.
The win doesn't necessarily move him up the UFC rankings. That said, it keeps him in the hunt for money fights against ranked men such as Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman.
As a result of the loss, Santos misses out on a big jump up in competition. He remains an explosive talent and a potent finisher, but he will not jump directly into money matchups with 185-pound veterans.
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