Mesoporous MoS2–graphene nanohybrid with excellent electrode activity can be synthesized by the reductive hybridization of exfoliated MoS2 and graphene oxide (G-O) nanosheets under hydrothermal condition. The use of G-O precursor is crucial in synthesizing homogeneously hybridized MoS2–graphene materials with mesoporous stacking structure. The MoS2–graphene nanohybrid prepared with G-O shows promising electrode performance for lithium ion batteries with large discharge capacity of ∼1400mAhg−1 for the 100th cycle and excellent rate performance, which is much superior to that of the homologue prepared with rG-O precursor and also restacked MoS2 nanosheets. The present results clearly demonstrate the usefulness of G-O precursor in the hydrothermal synthesis of graphene-based hybrid materials.