The UFC returns to Stockholm, Sweden Saturday night with its biggest European event to date, headlined by hometown favorite Alexander Gustafsson taking on the surging Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in a five-round, No. 1 contender’s fight.
If Gustafsson wins in front of his fellow Swedes, we’ll get to see the much-anticipated Jon Jones vs. Gustafsson rematch. Johnson has the opportunity to take the title shot from the No.1-ranked Gustafsson and become the next challenger for Bones.
But can he stop Gustafsson?
Since settling down at light heavyweight, Johnson has been a force. In his first UFC run, he quickly became a contender at 170 pounds but couldn’t come in on weight consistently. He made a pit stop at middleweight for his January 2012 UFC fight with Vitor Belfort but got sick while cutting weight and had to consume fluids hours before the weigh-in at the request of doctors.
He hit the scales at 197—11 pounds over the middleweight limit. The bad cut sapped Johnson of his energy nearly right out of the gate in the fight with Belfort, who submitted Rumble with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
The UFC cut Johnson after that fight, and he set out on his journey to fight his way back and find an appropriate weight class. After winning six fights outside the Octagon, including a victory at heavyweight over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, the UFC gave him a second chance, this time as a light heavyweight.
He wasn’t given any warm-up fights in his return to the UFC, as his first opponent was Top Five-ranked Phil Davis. Mr. Wonderful made his way to the top of the UFC light heavyweight division with his standout wrestling skills as well as his freakish athleticism and unique submission game, and he was coming off a win over Lyoto Machida.
Johnson stuffed all eight of Davis’ takedown attempts and proved to be the superior striker by tagging Davis a number of times with hard right hands and uppercuts. He outstruck and outmuscled Davis and proved that he had finally found the right weight class to make a run at a UFC championship.
In his second fight back in the UFC, Johnson knocked out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in just 44 seconds. He stormed through the Brazilian former amateur boxer, winning his eighth straight fight since the Belfort loss.
The raw power possessed by Rumble is a problem for any opponent. He shoved off the takedowns of Davis, and it will be interesting to see if Gustafsson can get the fight to the ground, as he was able to take Jones down right away.
Johnson has honed his striking under the tutelage of Henri Hooft, and he trains with a world-class team of fighters in the Blackzilians, including former UFC champion Rashad Evans. His bout with Gustafsson will be a battle of two of the best strikers in the division, and Rumble will most likely need to put The Mauler away early in order to win.
Gustafsson has proved he can handle a five-round war. He will have the cardio advantage over Johnson, and over the course of five rounds the Swede will most likely remain the fresher fighter.
Gustafsson is the taller and rangier of the two, and he will likely use his wide stance and quick jab to try to keep Rumble at bay. Gustafsson took a lot of punishment from Jones in the last few rounds back at UFC 165, so he will most likely be able to weather a substantial amount of the early storm from Johnson.
Johnson might have to come out of his comfort zone of hard counterpunches against the tall and lanky Swede. He possesses some of the most powerful hands in the sport and has looked unstoppable in his return to the UFC. If he can push forward and get inside, he can land the powerful shots that he will need to win the fight.
Will he be able to take out the No. 1 light heavyweight in the division and extinguish the plans for a Gustafsson vs. Jones rematch? The style matchup favors Gustafsson, but if Johnson can put him away, he will have shown that he is a legitimate threat to Jones’ title reign.
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