It was billed as a No. 1 contender’s bout in the light heavyweight division, but it was stacked in Alexander Gustafsson’s favor to get the job done. Yet despite fighting in his native Sweden in front of 30,000 people at the Tele2 Arena in Stockhold, the hometown hero Gustafsson was overwhelmed by Anthony Johnson in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Gustafsson lost via a violent first round TKO to Johnson, who is now a perfect 3-0 as a light heavyweight in his second stint in the UFC.
Now instead of the highly coveted rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, “Rumble” Johnson will take his new-found momentum into a collision with the current 205-pound champ.
Afterward, Gustafsson was emotional in defeat. He shed tears in the Octagon, and in the UFC on FOX 14 post-fight press conference, he explained the anguish he was feeling.
“It’s just a lot of pain,” he said. “I not only lost my fight, I lost my fight in front of 30,000 fans, so that’s a tough thing to deal with, and it still is. But whatever hurts you gets you stronger.”
Gustafsson was more than a 2-to-1 favorite coming in, and was still labeled as the No. 1 contender in the division. He had to clear the one last hurdle in Johnson, however, and he said the game plan was to use his length.
“My game plan was to work every round, tactically, with my distance and my speed,” he said. “But Anthony’s a beast and he came in with his pressure. He did what he had to do. And he did it good.”
The 30-year-old Johnson was humble in victory, and said that “pressure” was the key word in the equation.
“My game plan was to pressure and make him fight my kind of fight,” Johnson said. “That was all. I couldn’t let him get comfortable, because once he starts doing his Ali shuffle you know it’s about to be a long night for you.”
At one point in the fight, there was a moment where some people perceived a headbutt that may have played a factor in the outcome. Asked if he noticed a headbutt during the fight, Gustafsson said he wasn’t aware of it if it happened.
“No, I didn’t feel any headbutt,” he said. “So I don’t think it did, but what do I know?”
Asked what his plan was from here, a reticent Gustafsson said it was to get back on the horse and try again.
“I’m just going to take a few days and then go back to the gym and hit the bag,” he said. “Always learn from your mistakes and I learned today that I need to keep my guard up. So that’s it.”