Daniel Cormier is calling for Alexander Gustafsson to walk away from mixed martial arts (MMA) after watching “The Mauler” get stopped by Nikita Krylov yesterday afternoon (Sat., July 23, 2022) at UFC London live on ESPN+ from inside O2 Arena in London, England.
Gustafsson was making his first Octagon appearance in two years and his first fight in the light heavyweight division since 2019. It didn’t take long for Krylov to overwhelm Gustafsson on the feet and knock him down twice before securing a knockout finish just 67 seconds into the first round. Gustafsson’s performance didn’t look good and it sparked Cormier’s reaction on social media.
Cormier, who narrowly defeated Gustafsson back at UFC 192 to retain his UFC light heavyweight title at the time, pulled no punches in his brutally honest assessment of “Mauler.” The former UFC double champ did pay tribute to Gustafsson’s career in UFC as one of the best ever to never win a belt, but “DC” believes the writing is on the wall.
Gustafson is done. 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.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) July 23, 2022
“Gustafson 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.”
Gustafsson, 35, is now 0-4 in his last four Octagon appearances with all of those losses coming by way of knockout or submission. The Swedish fighter is in fact one of the best light heavyweights to ever fight under the UFC banner, but Gustafsson seems to be missing a step nowadays. Gustafsson has retired once before so it’s unknown at this time if his UFC London performance will force him to walk away from the sport again or if the former UFC title challenger will give fighting one more go.
What do you think, Maniacs? Should Gustafsson take Cormier’s advice and walk away from the sport?
For complete UFC London results and coverage click here.