Armenian fighter one of the world's great road warriors: The TelegraphOctober 20, 2017 - 11:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Telegraph has prepared a feature about Gegard Mousasi, a mixed martial artist of Armenian origin ahead of his Bellator MMA debut against Russia's Alexander Schlemenko on Friday, October 20. Mousasi was born in Iran to Christian Armenian parents at the height of the Iran-Iraq war, his family name having been changed long before his birth from Mofsesian to Mousasi. Detailing the turmoil of war, The Telegraph says Mousasi’s family – parents, brother Gewik and sister Angineh - tripped over the border a few years after the Iran-Iraq war and headed to Holland. Gegard was 8 years old. ‘My mum and dad were born in Iran. There’s a small community of Armenians there, but slowly everyone is leaving. I think there were 200,000 of us there at one time, and it’s fallen to around 50,000 now,’ explains Mousasi softly. It was a life-changer in Holland. He began by dreaming of being a boxing world champion, watching Oscar De La Hoya, and the heavyweight careers of Mike Tyson, and then Lennox Lewis. He tested himself in an array of combat sports, and found solace. Judo was his first sport. Then he took up boxing. By the age of 16, he was a national amateur champion in his adopted country. As a teenager, he was also drawn to kickboxing, and then, he walked into an MMA gym. Mousasi’s aspirations are like every other fighter in mixed martial arts today: title ownership. Now, his aspirations are to win the Bellator middleweight crown, and then take on all-comers. Mousasi is the former DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion, former DREAM Middleweight Champion, former Cage Warriors World Middleweight Champion and the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, thus making himself a four-time World Champion. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |