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The latest chapter in the Gegard Mousasi saga has started to unfold, and it involves a $15 million lawsuit.

In a 65-page civil suit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Mousasi alleges breach of contract, among other claims, by Bellator after it was purchased by the PFL, and the PFL and “new Bellator” in general. Among the named defendants are PFL executives Peter Murray, Donn Davis, Ray Sefo, Mike Koran, Jim Bramson and George Pineda.

Mousasi is seeking a minimum of $15 million in damages (H/T MMA journalist John Nash). The 39-year-old Dutch former Bellator champion most recently fought in May 2023, and his struggles to get a fight after the PFL purchase Bellator, and therefore Mousasi’s contract, became widely discussed when they went public earlier this year.

Gegard Mousasi has filed a complaint against Bellator Sport Worldwide, LLC, New Bellator, LLC (a subsidiary of PFL),+ individuals alleging breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, a claim for relief for Monopsonization. pic.twitter.com/l8TbfAUqyB

— John S. Nash (@heynottheface) October 17, 2024

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Exhibits in the lawsuit include copies of emails going back to January from Mousasi’s manager, Nima Sapafour, attempting to get clarification on what PFL’s intentions were with his client. After Mousasi went public with his frustrations with the company and threatened a lawsuit, the promotion annouced his release in April.

The suit gives insight into Mousasi’s contract with Bellator. Ahead of the sale to the PFL, Mousasi had a deal that was to pay him a flat $200,000 for his fight and a $50,000 bonus if he won with a finish – but also a guaranteed $600,000 “promotional fee” for each fight.

In communications between PFL/Bellator officials and Sapafour, Mousasi’s cost is brought up as an issue, despite his contractual status. And because Mousasi was unable to fight elsewhere, again contractually, the suit brings additional allegations.

The claims by Mousasi, including to court documents, are for “breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, a claim for relief for Monopsonization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act … and misclassification-related labor and employment claims.”

The suit is asking for no less than $15 million in “compensatory, consequential and/or equitable monetary damages” and requested a trial by jury.

Mousasi (49-9-2) in May called the promotion “the worst organization” and threatened legal action “in an interview. His release was announced soon after.

In May 2023, Mousasi lost to Fabian Edwards. It was his second straight setback. Mousasi fought in the UFC from April 2013 to April 2017 with a 9-3 record with the promotion, then went to Bellator as a free agent. He went 7-3 under the Bellator banner with two reigns as middleweight champion.

Sebastien Ogier opened up a slender early lead over World Rally Championship title favourite Thierry Neuville after the opening two stages of the Central European Rally.  

The eight-time world champion made an impressive start to the 18-stage three-country asphalt rally to lead Neuville by 0.9s. The latter can seal a maiden world title this weekend. 

Ogier kicked off proceedings by winning the Velka Chuchle (2.55km) super special stage, held around a horse racing course near the Czech capital Prague.

The Toyota driver took the stage win by 0.6s from team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, making his return to the WRC after the team opted to bench the driver for last month’s Rally Chile.

Ogier then trailed Neuville by 1.1s when the crews tackled stage two (Klatovy, 11.78km) as darkness descended on the slippery asphalt road. The Frenchman’s run did include a minor excursion across a grassbank. 

Neuville made the most of starting first on the road to set the pace despite suffering cosmetic damage to the aero on the front right of his i20 N incurred after clipping a hay bale in the previous stage.

The Belgian was a second quicker than title rival and Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak, whom he needs to outscore by two points this weekend to lift the world title. 

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

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“I can’t be happy, to be honest. I took off the aero on the front right by stupidly touching a straw bale, it will handicap me for the whole day tomorrow. Let’s see, it wasn’t too much of a disaster,” said Neuville.

Andreas Mikkelsen making a welcomed return to the WRC piloting Hyundai’s third i20 N headed into Friday’s stages sitting third overall, 1.7s adrift.

Mikkelsen attributed his pace to taking a different set-up direction that suited his driving style, having previously copied the set-ups of team-mates Neuville and Tanak at previous asphalt events.

“It was fun, now is the first time I have enjoyed driving the car on Tarmac,” said Mikkelsen. 

“I changed a lot in my set-up and it was mind-blowing in there. It was really enjoyable to drive. It has been a long time since I have had that feeling. I’m looking forward to the weekend now.”   

Katsuta also enjoyed the feeling behind the wheel of his GR Yaris to end the day in fourth overall, two seconds off the pace.

“Time is very good. I didn’t push so much but I’m enjoying this car a lot, said Katsuta. “It was getting darker and darker all the time, but all the pace note information is going well. I need to be a bit steady tomorrow as it is the biggest day of the rally.”

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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Tanak rounded out the top five, three tenths faster than M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmuax, who finished ahead of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (+3.1s) and Sami Pajari, competing in his first Rally1 outing on asphalt.

The top 10 was completed by M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster and WRC2 title contender Oliver Solberg, although the latter isn’t scoring championship points this weekend. 

Solberg’s WRC2 title rival Yohan Rossel was incredibly fortunate not to roll his Citroen when he ran wide and clipped a hay bale that sent the car onto two wheels, destroying the right rear. The Frenchman dropped 33.1s to class leader Solberg. 

Six stages in the Czech Republic await the crews on Friday before moving into Germany and Austria across the weekend.

DANIEL FARKE brushed off wild claims that Jurgen Klopp could REPLACE him at Leeds United.

The ex-Liverpool manager was this week confirmed as Red Bull’s new head of global soccer.

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Within hours a report in Germany stated that one of his first tasks was to keep a “close watch” on his compatriot at Leeds, the club Red Bull bought a minority stake in this year.

Farke has lost just one of the opening nine Championship games this term as he looks to go one better than last season’s play-off final defeat and return to the Premier League.

However, after the talk about Klopp and a far-fetched claim that he could perhaps even replace him, Farke insisted he had no concern that his friend would be observing him.

He said: “There are obviously a few Red Bull teams like in Leipzig, Salzburg, New York and so on.

“We are Leeds United and for that it is clear, he has a big impact on the Red Bull clubs and for us not that much.

“We are Leeds United and I think no one of our supporters would allow us to try and copy something or follow a similar philosophy.

“We are a pretty unique club and also have our own values, principles, philosophy, our own way that we want to play.

“As far as I know, this is exactly what the 49ers are standing for. They know how special this club is and they don’t want to copy someone else and for that, we will always be Leeds United.”

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Farke is looking to move level on points with second-placed Sheffield United tonight by beating them at Elland Road and bouncing back from the disappointment of conceding a late equaliser at Sunderland a fortnight ago.

The game will see his right-back Jayden Bogle face his former employers for the first time since leaving them for Leeds in the summer.

The 24-year-old said: “It will be an interesting one but I think we just need to make sure that we prepare well and, as I said before, use that fire from the last game going into this game to do the right job.

“It will be tough, just like when any team comes to Elland Road, they try and make it tough and difficult for us. But I think the main thing for us is to focus on ourselves and apply ourselves in the right way, work hard over the next few days in training and approach the game in the right way.”

Paul Hughes was ready for this.

Despite only a single fight since joining the PFL in free agency, the 27-year-old Irish prospect didn’t blink when he got the call to face former Bellator champion A.J. McKee in the opening bout on the upcoming pay-per-view card on Saturday from Saudi Arabia. Of course jumping in the deep end against a vastly experienced opponent might seem like too much, too soon, especially considering McKee has more career finishes (14) than Hughes has total fights (13).

But Hughes says getting the chance to face competition like McKee now rather than later is exactly why he signed with the PFL in the first place.

“This is exactly what I called for whenever I came into the PFL,” Hughes told MMA Fighting. “I said I want the most entertaining fights, the hardest fights and I want to put on shows for the fans. That’s exactly what’s going on here. I think I did a pretty good job in my debut. It was a pretty good scrap. Fans were happy enough and this one is just another step up.

“Now I’m kind of in that position where I’ve got the opportunity to fight one of the best in the world and prove what I have been saying for the last year — I’m one of the best fighters on the planet.”

Hughes doesn’t doubt that he’ll set foot in the cage as a sizable underdog and he understands that narrative given McKee’s history as one of the top fighters in Bellator for the past few years.

McKee has only tasted defeat once in his career and that was a close decision against Patricio Pitbull — an opponent he vanquished in less than two minutes during their first encounter. Since moving to lightweight, McKee is undefeated with a perfect 4-0 record including a lightning quick submission win over perennial PFL contender Clay Collard back in February.

“You put our records up against each other, you look at the experience AJ has against some of the best in the world for many, many years, on paper, I’m a huge, huge underdog coming into this fight,” Hughes acknowledged. “But look there’s a reason for the last 12 months I’ve been saying I’m one of the best in the world right now. I’ve mixed it up with some of the best guys in the world in training. I know my skill level. I know my capabilities. I know I’m a born competitor. You put me in there against anybody, I will win. I rise to the occasion.

“The proof that I have throughout my career, the higher pressure the fight, the bigger the occasion, the better that I perform. That’s just not me saying that’s what’s going to happen. I have proof of that happening. I’ve been there and done it. I’ve fought five round world title fights. I’ve performed every single time. Now it’s just the next step up. It’s a bigger stage but for me that means a better performance on my behalf.”

Getting McKee in just his second fight with PFL also further justified Hughes’ decision to pass on an offer from the UFC when he hit free agency earlier this year.

He laid out a multitude of reasons why he chose the PFL but money and opportunity sit at the top of that list and both are paying off with this fight.

“I knew deep down when I made the decision it was the right call,” Hughes explained. “I knew it was going to pay off for me. I didn’t quite expect it to pay off so quickly, in terms of how big the fights are, how big the events are but also how life changing the money is. I’m getting a bonus on top of my usual contract for this fight. Yes, I deserve it, I’m fighting one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet on a huge card. But my life has completely changed in the last six months. It’s incredible.

“It would take many, many years [in the UFC] to be able to get to the position that I am monetarily with the PFL. I knew it was going to be the right decision. It’s just paid off how I thought it would.”

Following his debut win in PFL in June, Hughes actually planned on calling out Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, but the undefeated Russian already had a fight booked at that point.

There’s nothing stopping Hughes from asking for that fight if he gets through McKee on Saturday, which is another reason why he was so excited to get this offer.

“This is exactly how I envisioned it,” Hughes said. “It’s actually playing out. Sometimes you aim for the stars and you end up on the moon. This one, I’ve ended up in the stars. Exactly what I asked for has happened. When I signed with the PFL, my expectations have been exceeded and it’s an unbelievable time.”