Alexander Gustafsson is looking to fight, and he’ll gladly be an injury replacement if that’s what it takes.
Long-time UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson hasn’t stepped into the Octagon in over a year, and he’s looking for a fight. A title shot ideally, but the idea of that went was put on hold when champion Daniel Cormier signed on to fight heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 226. Gustafsson wasn’t happy that the division was held up, but eventually turned his sights on Luke Rockhold.
Then Rockhold got hurt.
So now it’s unclear who Gustafsson might fight next. After Yoel Romero missed the middleweight limit at UFC 225 and subsequently lost a close decision to Robert Whittaker, UFC president Dana White suggested a light heavyweight contender fight between Gus and Romero. Cormier decided to chime in on Twitter, saying this is a good idea:
Since @LukeRockhold can’t fight I know who @AlexTheMauler can fight. Win or lose I say get him in there with @YoelRomeroMMA let’s see this #1 contender fight.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 10, 2018
Cormier wasn’t being disrespectful, but DC and Gus have had a rivalry for a while. So Gustafsson responded with some fire, and laid out a list of fights he would take or opponents he wanted:
“In response to @dc_mma most recent tweet about me, I will fight anyone that is meaningful including @yoelromeromma If he can be ready on time. Here is what I want if @lukerockhold won’t fight. I am prepared to rematch @shogunoficial or fight @volkan_oezdemir in Germany should someone not get his visa or get injured. Alternatively I will step in for @dc_mma or @stipemiocic should there be an injury for the HW Title. Either way @dc_mma defend your belt already or relinquish it by December 2018 and stop waisting everyone’s time. Oh and try not to miss weight as heavyweight!”
Gustafsson (18-4, 10-4 UFC) is currently on a two-fight winning streak with wins over Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz. Despite being out for a year, he is still the number one contender at 205 pounds.