Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson put on a dominant display in his headlining fight with Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel TV 2. Afterwards, the first question asked in his post-fight interview was about a title shot.
Gustafsson deflected the question, citing that he was still growing as a fighter and would face whoever the UFC put in front of him. Despite a five-fight winning streak, the Swede is wise to downplay the title talk.
Even with his 6-1 record inside the Octagon, he’s yet to take out a consensus top-10 opponent. In fact, his only loss came at the hands of top-tier wrestler Phil Davis.
It’s only natural that Gustafsson’s name would be mentioned in contention when you compare his physique to current champion Jon Jones. At an imposing 6’5″, the Scandinavian has the height and reach that may give the equally lanky Jones a problem in the cage.
Compound that with the fact that Jones has dispatched every opponent put in front of him and there’s no doubt Gustafsson has to be in the mix.
However, there are a number of fighters ahead of him on the ladder. Most notably, Rashad Evans—who challenges Jones at UFC 145 next weekend—and the ageless Dan Henderson.
Gustafsson’s path to a title shot should include at least one—if not more—of the division’s former champions. If Gustafsson could get around the likes of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua or Lyoto Machida, a much stronger case could be made for a title shot.
Perhaps the most logical opponent for the Swede would be former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader, who is also working his way up the 205-pound ladder. Bader poses many of the same problems for Gustafsson as Davis did, with his strong wrestling credentials.
There’s no doubt that Gustafsson is one of the most promising fighters in the division, but force-feeding him to Jones anytime soon would be a mistake. Another victory or two over any of the aforementioned names and this topic won’t even be open for debate.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, follow him on Twitter.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com