Alexander Gustafsson News

Justin Golightly - March 20, 2018

It just so happens that when Alexander Gustafsson is ready to come back, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is jumping up in weight to try and hold belts in two divisions. Regardless if he beats Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, Cormier will be retiring before March of last year so he’s on his way out. This leaves Gustafsson asking what about him? He thinks he deserves to fight for an interim belt. “Me fighting [Daniel Cormier] for the real title, that opportunity went out the window. I feel I earned my spot off my last performance, but here we are. With DC moving up, the next step for me should be for an interim title. I brought it up to the UFC. Let’s see what happens. All I know is that in my situation, whoever they put in front of me next, it must be for the interim title. I feel like I’ve been taking fights and climbing ladders, climbing rankings, my entire career.”

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2018

On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts in the heavyweight division, where he will challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the title. While this fight is one of the most anticipated on the UFC calendar, it has left the light heavyweight division’s top contenders without a champion to gun for. Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson is one of those contenders. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Gustafsson expressed his frustration with Cormier’s departure from the division – even if it’s only temporary.

Justin Golightly - March 10, 2018

Ever since Luke Rockhold teased that he was going to be moving up to the light heavyweight division, there has been one man waiting to welcome him to the division. Alexander Gustafsson was quick to stand in the doorway to Rockhold’s entrance into the new weight class. The former UFC middleweight champion is happy to oblige Gustafsson whenever they can step into the Octagon, but it looks like he already landed a pretty big blow. @LukeRockhold . Heard u coming for me.. Can’t ask for more .chinny as middle weight. KO’d as a LHW. Fool yourself to believe its the weight cut.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s days in his division are numbered. He has been very vocal about his imminent move to light heavyweight, as his friend and teammate Daniel Cormier moves up to heavyweight before he ends his career. As vocal as he’s been about going to 205, one man has been just as talkative about welcoming him to the division: Alexander Gustafsson. Well, be careful what you wish for, because he’s coming for that ass. “I don’t see me coming back [to middleweight], man. The weight cut is too much on me. As you get older, your bones get bigger. The last couple cuts have been pretty brutal on me. I had trouble regulating my body temperature and all that shit. It’s not fun. It’s not a fun cut anymore. I’m a different fighter at 205-pounds. That weight cut is taking a lot out of me. We had to make weight and stress out through the staging process like the old days [at UFC 221].

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

As Daniel Cormier heads up to heavyweight in one of the blast few big fights before he walks away from the sport, he’s not the only one changing weight classes. His teammate Luke Rockhold has announced his move to light heavyweight is ‘imminent’ and Alexander Gustafsson has offered to welcome him to the new division. Although, with a logjam of top Swedish talent at the top, it may be Gustafsson who leaves his division soon as well. “It’s a bit of a tricky situation. [Illir Latifi and Jimi Manuwa] are teammates, we are friends — close friends — first and foremost and we won’t fight each other. I want to start our discussion by making it clear that we will not fight each other, so now you all know. It’s a tricky situation, for sure. But I mean, we’ll see what happens. [Daniel Cormier] is now going up to face Stipe [Miocic], Ilir Latifi has heavyweight as a possibility. We’ll sort it out somehow. Of course we both should be able to dream of the belt and we both should get our chances to fight for the title, but we’ll see how it all turns out when we get there.”

Justin Golightly - February 23, 2018

The next move for Luke Rockhold is light heavyweight. It’s something he’s been vocal about even before UFC 211, where he suffered a loss to Yoel Romero. He’s since doubled down on the move and had already been called out by Alexander Gustafsson, which is fight Rockhold is very interested in. Still, some fans doubt his commitment or decision to move up, but the former UFC middleweight champion states that there is only one thing to keep him at 185 and that’s only for one fight: Michael Bisping. “I’m not too excited about making that weight cut again. I just don’t feel nearly as strong, powerful, quick. It takes a lot out of me. Pretty much [Michael] Bisping is the only reason I would torture myself to get back there. That’s a loss that doesn’t sit well with me. I know the UFC is very interested in that fight and will pursue it on their end. If he doesn’t accept it, there’s no reason for me to stay at 185. Mr. [Alexander] Gustafsson has reached out, opened his mouth, and that’s a fight that interests me — very much so. I like that match-up. I like every match-up at 205. There’s a lot of interesting things there and I’m not coming to play around.”

Drake Riggs - February 14, 2018

UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson are no strangers to one another. The two men met in one of the 205-pound weight classes greatest fights at UFC 192. The bout would go the distance and it would be Cormier who came out on top with the split decision victory and his first career title defense. Since the two fought, they haven’t lost. Cormier has gone 3-0 while Gustafsson 2-0. Cormier just recently defended his title against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 and his longtime friend and teammate, Luke Rockhold just very recently attempted to recapture some gold of his own at UFC 221. However, Rockhold was unable to come away with the win and prior to this fight, he had talked about going up to the 205-pound division. A statement that prompted a warning from Gustafsson.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

With Daniel Cormier moving up to heavyweight for his superfight with Stipe Miocic before his retirement, it left room for Luke Rockhold to make his move. Before his loss to Yoel Romero, he opened up about how he’s getting older and weight cuts are getting harder. He decided going up to light heavyweight was ‘imminent’. However, two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson warns Rockhold that he may want to re-think his division and offered a stern warning to the former middleweight champ. “Luke Rockhold, your teammate is holding my division hostage and you think there are only easy fights at light heavyweight? If you think [Yoel] Romero hits hard, then wait till you come to the big boys. I want Daniel Cormier, and knocking you out will keep me warm in the meantime. Beware of coming up in weight because I will be standing at the front door waiting.”— Alexander Gustafsson via his official Instagram.

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

As Volkan Oezdemir prepares for his title shot against Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson has just had a successful surgery and has returned to training. When he comes back, he wants another chance at UFC light heavyweight gold against whoever wins, but there is one thing he wants even more. Back at UFC 165, Gustafsson put on a Fight of the Night performance against Jon Jones, putting the GOAT candidate in more danger than he’s ever faced in his career. Regardless of what Jones was on or wasn’t on, Gustafsson wants to run it back again with Jones to find out who is better once and for all. “…A fight is a fight, right?” – Gustafsson after Helwani asked if he still wants to fight Jon Jones even if he’s (allegedly) on PEDs. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/UmA4jfYLzX

Justin Golightly - December 6, 2017

Things have been relatively quiet in the light heavyweight division for a little while now, but now we officially have Daniel Cormier defending his title against Volkan Oezdemir early next year in Boston. Aside from Ovince Saint Preux’s fight with Ilir Latifi at UFC Charlotte and Misha Cirkunov’s scrap with Glover Teixeira at UFC Winnipeg, we don’t have any big Top 10 match-ups in the division booked. That’s all about to change soon. After a successful surgery last month, Alexander Gustafsson is back to training for his comeback. Feels good to be back at the @allstarsgymsweden after the surgery. Time to get to work and come back stronger than ever in 2018!

Chris Taylor - November 27, 2017

Don’t expect to see former UFC title challenger Alexander Gustafsson back in the octagon any time soon. “The Mauler” recently took to social media where he shared the following photo fresh out of shoulder surgery.

Tom Taylor - October 16, 2017

Though nothing is official just yet, it sounds as though the next UFC light heavyweight title fight will pit reinstated champion Daniel Cormier against surging Swiss contender Volkan Oezdemir. If this fight does go down as expected, Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson will be watching it intently, as he’s likely to be the next man in line for the winner. Speaking on the Swedish show Viaplay Fighting, Gustafsson offered up a prediction on this fight. While he was careful not to discount Oezdemir, he appears to be quite confident in a Cormier win.

Justin Golightly - September 14, 2017

The nickname that Volkan Oezdemir wears like a badge of honor couldn’t be more appropriate. Mr. ‘No Time’ has spent six minutes and 10 seconds fighting in the UFC. That amount of time is three fights combined. It’s no wonder that Oezdemir just entered into the UFC this year and he’s already knocking on the door to a title shot. Unfortunately, Jon Jones has complicated the title picture a little bit, but that’s not going to slow him down. He’s talked about Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson before, but it looks like he’s doubling down on the Swedish mauler. “I think a fight with [Daniel Cormier] or a fight with [Alexander] Gustafsson are most likely next, but I think the best option for me is to fight Gustafsson. The situation isn’t very clear with the belt, so in the mean time I would like to fight Gustafsson for the number one contender spot. Maybe after that I can fight ‘DC’ for the belt. I think because he was the champion and with what has happened to Jones, he deserves to fight for the belt. It’s a smart choice for [Gustafsson] not fight me. He’s right there for the belt too. His next fight was supposed to be for the belt, so because of that, fighting would me would be completely stupid. He will lose his spot if he fights me, he will go down and lose one year of his life.”

Tom Taylor - August 23, 2017

It seems that almost every fighter on the UFC roster has something to say about Jon Jones’ potential USADA violation, which stems from a failed test that occurred on the night of the UFC 214 weigh-ins. Some fighters think it’s time for the UFC and the governing athletic commissions to drop the hammer on the light heavyweight great. Others, meanwhile, are eager to remind fans to not to judge until all the facts have been collected. Alexander Gustafsson, one of Jones’ fiercest rivals, falls into this latter category.

Tom Taylor - August 21, 2017

Earlier today, Swedish MMA publication MMANytt reported that a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and challenger Alexander Gustafsson was in the works for UFC 218, which is scheduled for December 2 in Detroit, Michigan. Apparently, however, this report is inaccurate. Speaking to Kimura.se, another Swedish publication, Gustafsson revealed that he currently camping with his friends, and that he’s not a part of any discussions regarding a fight with Jones at the moment.

Russell Ess - July 31, 2017

Volkan Oezdemir has made a very clear statement to the UFC light heavyweight division with his last two impressive performances in the Octagon. Oezdemir holds a 15-1 professional MMA record and has only had three fights in the UFC, making his UFC debut against Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 104 back in February. Oezdemir took a split decision win over St. Preux and then went on to face Misha Cirkunov in his next fight in the Octagon. Oezdemir needed just 28 seconds to KO Cirkunov in his second UFC fight. It was quick work again over the weekend for Oezdemir who went into the fight ranked #5 by the UFC against #3 ranked Jimi Manuwa. The fight lasted just 42 seconds as “No Time” scored another highlight reel KO finish over Manuwa.

Russell Ess - June 12, 2017

Iron sharpens iron and it goes to show with a couple of the top UFC light heavyweight contenders Alexander Gustafsson and Jimi Manuwa. The two training partners are ranked at the top of the UFC 205-pound division with Gustafsson at #1 and Manuwa at #2. With Gustafsson coming off a KO over Glover Teixeira and Manuwa set to fight Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214 on July 29, a title shot is within reach for both teammates.

Tom Taylor - June 5, 2017

In the wake of his impressive knockout win over Glover Teixeira, Alexander Gustafsson shared some rather heavy-handed comments about former light heavyweight champion and one-time opponent Jon Jones, suggesting that given his many indiscretions outside the cage, Jones is probably not a good person. This then prompted a response on Twitter from Jones, which in turn influenced Gustafsson to fire back. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Gustafsson discussed this back-and-forth with Jones, and assured he stands by his comments, as he was simply telling the truth.