Gegard Mousasi parts ways with UFC, inks six-fight deal with Bellator MMA

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has no problem spending money. Not only will it pay one-off attractions like CM Punk $500,000 to get squashed in the first round, international imports like Alistair Overeem can rake in $800,000.

Gegard Mousasi, however, is apparently not worth a fraction of that — despite winning five straight with four violent finishes and getting “screwed” in the process.

Probably because “The Dreamcatcher” failed to impress persnickety promotion president Dana White, who recently claimed the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion was a lousy draw at the box office.

If that’s the case, then White and Co. should have no problem saying goodbye to their No. 4-ranked middleweight.

“I signed a six-fight deal with Bellator,” Mousasi told The MMA Hour. “I hope to be champion there. If I acheive that, I am looking forward to going a division up and going for the 205-pound belt. First things first, the middleweight belt is my goal.”

Safe to say Rafael Carvalho is looking over his shoulder.

“UFC has always treated me well,” he continued. “Dana White has talked good about me and I am thankful to them. If they would’ve come to me and said, ‘Okay, you are fighting for the interim belt,’ things would been more interesting to me. Those things matter. I should have been there already.”

Mousasi (42-6-2) insists respect — not money — was the motivating factor.

That’s a sentiment shared by several combat sports veterans (like this guy) who previously aligned with former Strikeforce head cheese Scott Coker, who took over the reigns from Bjorn Rebney when the Spike TV ratings failed to gain any momentum.

Oh what a difference a few years makes.