Ever since news broke about the possibility of Alexander Gustafsson‘s cut, rumors have began to swirl about the Swede’s chances of competing in his scheduled contest at the UFC on Fuel TV 9 event. His fight also happens to be the card’s main event and only major draw on the card.
Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting spoke to George Sallfeldt, the president of the Swedish MMA Federation, and he revealed that Gustafsson‘s cut will be examined today. It also seems like a conclusion to the big mystery may have a definite ending by today.
“If the medical committee feels there is a sufficient information to make a decision, I’m sure they will,” Sallfeldt said. “They understand that having this hang in the air until Friday is not ideal, so that is why they are working on him now.”
Sallfeldt noted that they were informed of the cut on March 30. He confirmed that three doctors examined the cut shortly thereafter and all three came to the same conclusion.
“They felt it would be very unlikely that he would be medically cleared,” he said. “However, they don’t have a mandate to stop the fight.”
That goes along with what UFC president Dana White has been saying all along—that Gustafsson wants to fight and hasn’t been told he can’t fight. Yet. Although Sallfeldt remained distant when pressed about his belief of when a decision would be made, he is expecting a quick resolution.
“I personally feel that it would be unlikely that the medical committee would let this wait until Friday,” he said. “That’s just my personal opinion. That would surprise me.
“I hope that they would be clear by the end of [Tuesday].”
The mystery surrounding Gustafsson‘s cut, which was reportedly suffered in training, has caused quite a bit of speculation about not only the Swede’s chances of fighting but also who would be able to step in on such short notice to face his opponent, Gegard Mousasi.
However, the speculation doesn’t seem to be bothering Mousasi‘s camp.
“We are waiting for information,” Mousasi‘s manager Lex McMahon said. “Our position is Gegard is ready to fight, he just needs an opponent. He’ll fight Gustafsson, Vitor, Wanderlei, Thor, Odin, it just doesn’t matter. Gegard is the baddest man in Stockholm and he’s ready for a fight.”
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