The former UFC champion called for Alexander Gustaffson to retire from the sport.
One of the sadder moments from yesterday’s UFC London happened when Alexander Gustafsson suffered a first round KO at the hands of Nikita Krylov. That was the fourth loss in a row (all finishes) suffered by ‘The Mauler’.
On seeing the former title challenger succumb to a Krylov uppercut, former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier made it clear that he felt Gustafsson should not be fighting anymore.
“Gustafson [sic] is done,” wrote Cormier. “He needs to walk away, these shots are hard but he used to eat those. The chin is gone, walk away my friend. We all have expiration date. One of the best to not have had a title.”
I know he fought for the title multiple times but I have to wonder if he’s earned enough to financially retire
— shop CrisCyborg.com (@criscyborg) July 23, 2022
Cormier’s comment was met with one from former UFC featherweight champion, and current Bellator featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. She brought up the sobering reality that Gustafsson may not have the kind of financial security needed to retire as a 35-year-old.
“I know he fought for the title multiple times but I have to wonder if he’s earned enough to financially retire,” she wrote.
Gustafsson entered the UFC in 2009 and debuted with a 41-second KO win over Jared Hamman. In his second Octagon appearance he was submitted by Phil Davis.
After that loss the Swede reeled off six straight victories to earn a title shot against Jon Jones. Jones vs Gustafsson, at UFC 165 in 2013, remains one of the greatest fights ever hosted inside the Octagon.
Jones won the fight via split decision. Though, some—including Gustafsson—felt the judges got it wrong.
After that close loss Gustafsson TKO’d Jimi Manuwa, but was then TKO’d himself by Anthony Johnson.
In 2015 he faced Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight title (vacated due to one of Jones’ many outside the cage issues). He lost that bout by split decision.
Gustafsson regrouped with wins over future champions Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. Those victories won him a rematch with Jones, at UFC 232 in 2018. That fight was for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title (which was stripped from Cormier after he focused on defending his heavyweight title).
Jones KO’d Gustafsson in the third round. That was the first loss in Gustafsson’s current four fight losing skid. The other losses include submission defeats to Anthony Smith and Fabricio Werdum (at heavyweight).