Mousasi expects Le Banner at "Dynamite!! 2010," Kyle in 2011 Strikeforce return by Steven Marrocco and Dann Stupp on Nov 18, 2010 at 10:40 am ET Gegard Mousasi (30-3-1 MMA, 8-0 DREAM, 2-1 SF), who's won 17 of his past 18 fights during a busy four-year stretch, may have two more bouts on the horizon. Mousasi, the current DREAM light-heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce title-holder, expects to meet famed kickboxer Jerome Le Banner at December's DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010" event, he recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). Then, he plans a February return to Strikeforce to fight fellow light-heavyweight contender Mike Kyle (18-7-1 MMA, 2-2-1 SF). DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010" takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. No fights officiallyhave been announced, but Mousasi is hopeful for an MMA-rules bout with Le Banner (3-1-1 MMA, 0-0 DREAM), who hasn't competed in MMA since March 2006. "I don't know if I'm fighting him yet," Mousasi said of Le Banner. "They haven't confirmed. They asked me, and I said yes, so now if he said yes, the fight is on." Mousasi specifically wants to fight the heavyweight, who's a French knockout artist with a 76-19-1 pro-kickboxing record, as a wake-up call to overseas fans. But he admits such a bout may have little interest in the U.S. "If I fight Jerome LeBanner in the U.S., [he] wouldn't be considered a good MMA fighter," Mousasi said. "But in Europe because he's a popular K-1 fighter, it's fighting a big fight. It doesn't matter if it's MMA or K-1, so it's good for me (and) my name in Europe if I could beat him. And he's big and strong, so it's a challenge for me to get him down. I know that once I can get him down, I can win. But that's the challenge." Le Banner weighs approximately 260 pounds, and just two years ago, Mousasi won DREAM's 185-pound title. But he's bulked up since then and won light-heavyweight titles with both DREAM and Strikeforce. And currently, he said he weighs about 222 pounds. "It's too short a time to put a lot of weight on, so maybe two or three kilos more, but that's it," said Mousasi, who heard Satoshi Ishii also could be a potential opponent for the year-end DREAM event. "But I don't consider weight to be that big of a deal. As long as my technique is better, it will make up for his strength." As far as his U.S. career, Mousasi hasn't fought in Strikeforce since losing his title to Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in April. So when is his return? "February," he said. "I'm fighting Mike Kyle in Strikeforce. February that's what I heard." Strikeforce hasn't officially announced any shows past the Dec. 4 "Henderson vs. Babalu" event in St. Louis. So has Mousasi begun preparations for the bout? "No, you never know how things will go," he said. "Maybe I get another [opponent]. But that's the fight that they want. He's a tough opponent. He's already beat the champion (Rafael Cavalcante). But I don't know for sure that I'm fighting him, but most likely it's going to be him." The game plan? Beat Kyle, get another Strikeforce title shot, and the reclaim his belt. Then, Mousasi said, he would consider a move to heavyweight a plan he's discussed frequently for the past couple years. In the meantime, he's simply focused on improvement. Despite his ability to end fights on the ground, Mousasi struggled against Lawal, a famed NCAA Division I wrestling stand-out. "I'm going to train a little like (UFC welterweight champ) Georges St-Pierre (with) wrestling, jiu-jitsu, judo and kickboxing and then put them all together in my own gym where I train," he said. "I'm train to improve myself in all aspects, not just one area. "I'm a standup fighter, but when I see all my fights, I finish them on the ground. My best strength is ground and pound, so I want to always be on top. If I want to have the advantage with my ground and pound and control, I need to be a good wrestler to take them down and be in top position. Even if I don't fight a wrestler, I'm going to improve my wrestling because I want to be the guy that takes them down." For the latest on the "DREAM Dynamite!! 2010," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com. VERY interesting fight. LeBanner has clearly lost a step and is very long in the tooth. But he's a massive heavy and a bonafide striker. As an MMA bout this would at least have some freak show value. :happy:happy
Man, Mousasi is probably my favorite fighter but this is a dangerous fight. Hopefully Gegard can take him down fairly quickly and sub him. While he is a good striker himself, he obviously isn't on Jerome's level, even if he has slowed down considerably. Hopefully he doesn't try to test that theory for very long. The Mike Kyle fight should be interesting as well. Mousasi is better than him at everything, but he is still a dangerous opponent for anybody, and he has looked quite good in his past few outings.
I think this is a pretty easy fight for Mousasi; Lebanner isn't an MMA fighter, and his long career as a kickboxer is coming to an end, or at least an end at the top of the sport. Mousasi has fought big and powerful strikers before, and never really had much trouble getting the job done.
gonna have to agree, taking down a fantastic striker isnt that hard if the guy has little mma training wich I belive is the case for lebanner. now if he turns it into a kickboxing match... but he knows better than that just ask melvin manhoef.:tong here is a video on lebaners last mma fight. le banner vs Jimmy "The Titan" Ambriz -some mma brawler with at that time (3/15/2006) a 8-3-1 record (now is 14-14-1) now imagine if that was mousasi. [dm]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zkx1[/dm]
Doesn't LeBanner have a black belt in Judo? I distinctly remember him saying that in an interview or something. Regardless, I think Mousasi has a great chance of getting the submission.
le banner started training judo at a young age of 6 then switched to training karate at the age of 14 according to wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_Le_Banner on his This content is protected "The young Jerome began his martial arts with judo at the age of 6 years. There is already showing great potential, but a dispute between his father to judges at a competition prematurely terminates the career of Jerome in this sport." he sure didnt seem to comfortable on his back in his last mma fight.
