Tag: Alexander Gustafsson

Jon Jones is taking Alexander Gustafsson much more seriously in their rematch at UFC 232.

In their first fight at UFC 165, Jones picked up the win via close decision. He has since admitted to partying way too hard leading up to the fight. Regardless, Jones notched the win and defended the light heavyweight title yet again.

Leading up to their first fight Jones kept hearing how Gustafsson was a ‘Swedish version’ of himself. And although “Bones” beat Gus the first time he won’t treat the Swede like a knockoff version of himself.

“I was getting used to people saying things like, ‘He is a lot like Jon Jones with better hands and better footwork.’ Everybody was saying he was a Swedish version of me,” said Jones during a recent stop on UFC Unfiltered podcast.

“In my head, I was thinking he’s tall, has a presence about him, but he is not me. There is only one me, and it was almost an arrogance that I had. I was feeling like I was a product and he was a knockoff version of me.”

Lesson Learned

In every fight, win or lose, there’s a lesson to be learned. On that night Jones learned a valuable one:

“What he showed me was, hard work can beat talent when talent isn’t working hard. And that is such a true thing. I know I wasn’t doing the right things. I was in the heyday of my partying. Now I know what he is capable of and I will treat him as such. I will train for him like it is supposed to be,” he concluded.

While its true Jones has been away from the sport for some 16 months, Gustafsson has been sidelined for 18. That’s a baffling statistic in its own right.

We’ll see which fighter will be on top of his game on December 29.

The post Jon Jones: Gustafsson Not ‘Swedish Version Of Me’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Next month (Sat. December 29, 2018) the UFC will host a rematch of one of the best fights in the promotion’s history.

Back in 2013, Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson put on a classic of a light heavyweight title contest. Both men endured the most damage of their fighting careers, however, “Bones” emerged victorious with the unanimous decision win. Ever since, Gustafsson has been gunning for a rematch with Jones.

He’ll now get it. Jones vs. Gustafsson II will main event UFC 232 on pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner will be crowned the new UFC light heavyweight champion. Current titleholder Daniel Cormier will be stripped after the fight starts.

“The Mauler” came closer than anyone to defeating Jones, who has yet to be bested inside the Octagon. Speaking on “The MMA Hour” recently, Gustafsson said he believes Jones is still “the best fighter in the world” (via BJPenn.com):

“He’s a really talented fighter. He’s a very smart fighter,” Gustafsson said. “Whatever Jon does, in that Octagon he has a strategy and he’s a very smart fighter with a good eye, so you can’t relax.

“You can’t relax with this guy, you can’t even give him an inch. You have be on your toes the whole fight, you have to be ready the whole fight.

“So, that’s how I see Jon now. Jon has just been so impressive, that’s why he never lost. So, he is just that guy. He’s been beating everybody, so we all know how he is and how he’s been.

“He’s the best fighter in the world. For me, he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter, so like I said, I can’t relax for a second when I fight him.”

The post Gustafsson: Jon Jones Is ‘Best Fighter’ In The World appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Things got a little testy between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson last weekend.

Jones and Gustafsson participated in a pre-fight press conference for their scheduled UFC 232 clash. The longtime rivals will main event the pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas, Nevada on December 29th. After fielding questions from the media, Jones and Gustafsson squared off for a staredown.

After UFC President Dana White left the area, Jones and Gustafsson faced the media for pictures. However, Jones and Gustafsson began to battle for front position, before Jones turned to shove “The Mauler.” Dana White jumped in quickly to separate the men, who didn’t take it further than that.

In fact, Gustafsson let off a little smile after Jones shoved him. Speaking to Luke Thomas on “The MMA Hour” recently, Gustafsson said that he wasn’t impressed by Jones’ power after being shoved (via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know [why he shoved me]. He just did that, and the only thing I noticed was that I wasn’t impressed by his power at all,” Gustafsson said.

“We had some fun up there, and the 29th of December, we’re going to give all the fans a really good show, even better than the first one, I can promise you that. I’m excited and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been this motivated before.”

Jones and Gustafsson battled it out to a razor close decision back in 2013. With how close the fight was, Jones claims he didn’t train seriously for the contest, and still won via unanimous decision. Gustafsson hopes Jones brings his A-game this time around because he doesn’t want to hear any excuses when it’s all said and done:

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