Gustafsson is returning to 205 lbs after an ill-fated move to heavyweight.
‘The Mauler’ is headed back to light heavyweight.
Swedish outlet Frontkick.online reports that Alexander Gustafsson is linked to a fight against current #11 ranked contender Nikita Krylov for a UFC Fight Night card on July 23rd. No venue has been announced but it’s rumored that this could mark the Octagon’s second appearance in the United Kingdom this year.
Gustafsson (18-7) has lost three in a row, most recently suffering a first round armbar loss to Fabricio Werdum in July 2020. The three-time light heavyweight title challenger nearly toppled Jon Jones in their epic first meeting, badly hurt Daniel Cormier in his second title shot, but ultimately never became the champion. Gustafsson retired in 2019 after losing to Anthony Smith in front of his home fans in Sweden, but this is MMA and many retirements don’t last long. The last time Gustafsson had his hand raised was a fifth-round KO of current champion Glover Teixeira… way back in 2017.
Krylov (27-9) is on a two-fight losing streak, having tapped out to Paul Craig’s vaunted triangle choke last month at UFC London. Preceding that loss was a unanimous decision defeat to Magomed Ankalaev. The last win for Krylov was was unanimous decision over Johnny Walker in Brazil back in March 2020.
Gustafsson was supposed to face Ben Rothwell at UFC Vegas 55 in May, but Rothwell is know with Bare Knuckle FC so his heavyweight stay didn’t last long.
No main event has been linked to the July 23rd card as of yet.