Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz set for UFC Fight Night 41 main event in Berlin
The UFC’s third trip to Germany, and first trip to Berlin, now has its main event.
Iranian-born Dutchman Gegard Mousasi (34-4-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will meet American Mark Munoz (13-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 41. UFC officials announced the headliner on Thursday.
UFC Fight Night 41 takes place May 31 at O2 World Berlin in Germany. The card will stream on UFC Fight Pass in the United States. Later that day, the UFC is set to put on an event in Brazil expected to be headlined by Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen, part of two international shows on the same day.
Mousasi will be looking to get back on track after his main-event unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida this past month at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil. That fight was Mousasi’s return to middleweight after a run at light heavyweight that included winning the Strikeforce 205-pound title in 2009.
Mousasi, also a former DREAM champion, came to the UFC after the merger with Strikeforce, where he went 4-1-1. He was scheduled to fight Alexander Gustafsson nearly a year ago in his promotional debut, but the Swede was forced out just days before the fight and replaced by Ilir Latifi. Mousasi beat him by unanimous decision in Stockholm.
Munoz also has to recover from a loss – and also from one to Machida. This past October at UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester, England, Munoz fought his friend and sometimes training partner in the main event. Machida stopped him with a head-kick knockout in the first round.
Earlier in 2013, Munoz returned after a yearlong layoff and beat Tim Boetsch at UFC 162 to get back in the win column after a knockout loss to Chris Weidman the year prior. That setback snapped a four-fight winning streak for the two-time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State.
Tickets for UFC Fight Night 41 start at €50 and go on sale to the general public on April 4. UFC Fight Club members get a pre-sale period beginning April 2, and UFC.com e-newsletter subscribers can buy tickets on April 3.
The UFC’s two previous trips to Germany took place with UFC 99 in Cologne, where Rich Franklin defeated Silva in the pay-per-view headliner. A year later, Oberhausen played host to UFC 122 and Yushin Okami’s win over Nate Marquardt on Spike TV.
