Former UFC title challenger Alexander Gustafsson is expected to withdraw from a bout scheduled for September 4.
According to MMA Junkie, who quoted an anonymous source with personal knowledge of the situation, Alexander Gustafsson is injured and will not be able to make his scheduled bout with Paul Craig.
Gustafsson was due to face the Scot at UFC Fight Night 191, which is slated for September 4. The nature, or severity, of Gustafsson’s injury is not known at this time.
The 34-year-old Swede had been due to appear in his second fight since announcing his retirement from the sport in 2019. In 2020 he announced he was coming out of retirement to face former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, at heavyweight.
Werdum beat Gustafsson by first round armbar.
After taking wins over Vladimir Matyshenko, Thiago Silva and Mauricio Rua, ‘The Mauler’ earned a UFC light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones at UFC 165 in 2013. Gustaffson lost to Jones, in an all-time classic fight, by unanimous decision.
Gustafsson struggled with inconsistent performances after that loss. He beat Jimi Manuwa by TKO in 2014, but suffered a brutal TKO loss to Anthony Johnson the following year.
After losing to ‘Rumble’, Gustafsson was awarded a title fight against new light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. He lost that contest by split decision. Gustafsson rebounded from those losses to take wins over future champion Jan Blachowicz and current title challenger Glover Teixeira.
In 2018 Gustafsson faced Jones for a second time, in a bout with the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. He lost that fight by third round TKO. After that loss he was defeated by Anthony Smith, by submission. Gustafsson announced his short-lived retirement after that fight.
It’s unknown if Gustafsson vs. Craig will be moved to a later card or if the UFC will seek a new opponent for ‘Bearjew’.
Craig is currently riding a five fight unbeaten streak with stoppage wins over Vinicius Moreira, Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Jamahal Hill. Over that span Craig also had a draw and a TKO win over former champ Mauricio Rua.