There are some changes being made to weigh-ins under the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC). Taking the “fool me once, shame on me” approach, the NYSAC is preventing fighters from holding onto any objects while being weighed. Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder Daniel Cormier grabbed hold of a towel on […]
There are some changes being made to weigh-ins under the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC). Taking the “fool me once, shame on me” approach, the NYSAC is preventing fighters from holding onto any objects while being weighed. Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder Daniel Cormier grabbed hold of a towel on […]
Alexander Gustafsson still wants his opportunity to defeat Jon Jones. Jones has never been legitimately beaten inside the Octagon, let alone in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, but nobody ever came closer than Alexander Gustafsson. “The Mauler” and “Bones” engaged in an epic light heavyweight title clash at UFC 165 in September of 2013, […]
Alexander Gustafsson still wants his opportunity to defeat Jon Jones.
Jones has never been legitimately beaten inside the Octagon, let alone in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, but nobody ever came closer than Alexander Gustafsson. “The Mauler” and “Bones” engaged in an epic light heavyweight title clash at UFC 165 in September of 2013, which Jones was able to edge out via unanimous decision.
After the contest many believes Gustafsson should’ve gotten the winning nod, prompting an immediate rematch between the two. Unfortunately all attempt to make a rematch fell through and Jones went on to continue a successful career as 205-pound champion.
Gustafsson on the other hand suffered back-to-back losses to Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier, before getting back in the win column last September with a unanimous decision win over Jan Blachowicz. Now Gustafsson is set to take on No. 2-ranked Glover Teixiera in the main event of tomorrow’s (Sun. May 27, 2017) UFC Fight Night event from Sweden.
While “The Mauler’s” focus is currently on his Brazilian counterpart at the moment, he does admit he’d like to get his shot at a rematch with Jones (quotes via FOX Sports):
“Of course, I want to fight Jon Jones. Of course I want to fight D.C. for the belt. But I know Glover is there and that’s my only concern,” Gustafsson said.
“I just try to focus on the right things. Nothing else. I’ve done it before. It’s not my first tour. I’m feeling good and I can’t wait.”
As for his match with Teixeira, Gustafsson expects to be blitzed by his opponent early on and is ready to do whatever it takes to walk out of his home country the victor:
“He’s going to come out early and try to finish me. He’s going to come out and try to make a slugfest of everything,” Gustafsson said about Teixeira. “Whatever it takes. I’ve got five rounds in me or I could finish him in the first round.
“The only thing I want to make sure of is to get the ‘W’. That’s all I’m focusing on.”
Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Following the towel incident involving UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 210, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) has decided to make some changes to its weigh-in protocol. Weigh-ins for UFC 210 took place on April 7th, one day before the event, and some controversy ensued once Cormier hit the scale. Initially, […]
Following the towel incident involving UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 210, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) has decided to make some changes to its weigh-in protocol.
Weigh-ins for UFC 210 took place on April 7th, one day before the event, and some controversy ensued once Cormier hit the scale. Initially, Cormier missed the 205-pound weight limit by 1.2 pounds but returned three minutes later and made the weight perfectly.
While weighing in the second time, however, Cormier was holding on to the towel that was covering him and it looked as though he was putting some weight on it, which would’ve affected the scale’s reading. The NYSAC did not penalize Cormier as he technically didn’t break any of their rules (via MMA Fighting):
“When I got off the scale the first time, I walked away, and they didn’t cover me,” Cormier said. “So obviously, a guy thinks that he’s losing everything that he’s worked for on the scale, and we just walk back off the scale and nobody even worried about protecting me. So I was like, you know what, I’m going to hold the towel a little bit myself to make sure that I’m covered.”
Because of this, a change to the NYSAC’s regulations as it pertains to weigh-ins were made on April 13th. The change suggests that a fighter “shall not make physical contact with any person or object other than the scale.”
You can read the full addition to the rule here:
“When on the scale, the combatant shall stand still with his or her feet flat upon the scale and shall not make physical contact with any person or object other than the scale. No other person shall touch the scale when a combatant is in the act of weighing in. While on the scale, the combatant shall follow any direction issued by the Commission.”
Another addition to the rules suggests that a fighter can be disciplined by the commission if a competitor “fails to act in good faith, engages in disruptive behavior, or violates any rule or directive of the Commission during the official weigh-in.”
“In the discretion of the Commission, a combatant may be directed to immediately retake the scale to ensure that the combatant’s weight was accurately assessed.”
Alexander Gustafsson faces a stiff test this coming Sunday afternoon, taking on Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109. And it grew even tougher when officials decided to place the bout in Stockholm, Sweden to help promote “The Mauer” even more. Why, you might ask, is that a bad thing? In […]
Alexander Gustafsson faces a stiff test this coming Sunday afternoon, taking on Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109. And it grew even tougher when officials decided to place the bout in Stockholm, Sweden to help promote “The Mauer” even more. Why, you might ask, is that a bad thing? In […]
There was a time when Alexander Gustafsson mauled the greatest to ever do it.
With no one expecting much going into UFC 165, the Swede tore into Toronto and beat Jon Jones from pillar to post in a way no one ever had.
He bloodied and battered the champ…
There was a time when Alexander Gustafsson mauled the greatest to ever do it.
With no one expecting much going into UFC 165, the Swede tore into Toronto and beat Jon Jones from pillar to post in a way no one ever had.
He bloodied and battered the champion, repeatedly smashing him with combinations and even scoring a takedown. It wasn’t enough, with Jones digging deep late in the bout to narrowly come out ahead on the scorecards, but a star was born.
Gustafsson had arrived, doing more for himself in his second career loss than he had in his previous 15 victories.
That was nearly four years ago, and on Sunday, Gustafsson returns to action for only the fifth time since that, the crowning achievement of his MMA career. That such a crown was earned in a memorable loss, and that he has been largely inactive since, is perhaps instructive of his place in the sport.
Because of the shallowness of the light heavyweight class and the incapacity of those lurking on its fringes to move forward, Gustafsson has remained among the top few contenders at the weight since he fought Jones.
This comes despite his being 2-2 since, on the wrong end of Anthony Johnson’s thunder and a memorable decision against Daniel Cormier. Gustafsson has dispatched the foes he should in that time, but the wins have been uninspired, more a matter of “when” than “if” based on the caliber of opposition.
There is a case to be made that, coming out of the near-defeat of Jones, The Mauler squandered his prime.
He was as hot a commodity as the promotion had at 205, with Johnson not even in the UFC and Cormier not even at the weight. He looked like he could be setting up for a run at greatness.
He had size, he was more athletic than most realized and he appeared to be rounding out his arsenal with an eye on capturing gold.
Instead, what followed was a win over Jimi Manuwa and multiple yearlong layoffs and mixed results, interspersed with talk of retirement.
It was a confounding run, one that left people frustrated that someone with so much potential was treading water.
Yet thanks to the noted shallow division and incapacity of others to rise the ranks, Gustafsson has a chance to right the ship on Sunday.
Should he beat Glover Teixeira, another man pressed against the glass ceiling of contendership that separates Jones and Cormier from everyone else, Gustafsson may well springboard himself into a rematch with Jones.
Jones will return at UFC 214 to fight Cormier, and with a win, he’ll regain the title he lost to his own stupidity back in 2015. That win would likely provide a runback of the fight everyone loved so much in 2013, as the UFC would surely fancy a chance to pit Jones against the only man to ever challenge him.
It would represent a roundabout way for Gustafsson to get the fight, but he’d get it nonetheless. The best way to excite people about it would be for him to dispatch Teixeira with precision and viciousness, two things that have been agonizingly absent since he poured his heart and soul into the first dance with Jones.
Should he do that, people may be quick to see it and be inspired about his chances against Jones, particularly in light of their first meeting and his reputation for rising to his level of competition.
It remains a formidable condition, though, this ability of Gustafsson to look as excellent as most would suggest he is. In the face of a stretch of fits and starts that is being measured by years, it is hard to know what to expect on Sunday.
Still, the money, fame and opportunity that comes with a shot at Jones might be just the thing to bring Gustafsson out of his shell for the first time in a while.
That prospect alone makes his upcoming scrap a can’t-miss proposition.
Jimi Manuwa wants in on the UFC 205-pound title sweepstakes. The Englishmen is currently on a two-fight win streak in which he finished both of his opponents via knockout. He defeated Ovince Saint Preux with a vicious second round knockout, followed by a first round knockout performance against Corey Anderson in London this past March. […]
Jimi Manuwa wants in on the UFC 205-pound title sweepstakes.
The Englishmen is currently on a two-fight win streak in which he finished both of his opponents via knockout. He defeated Ovince Saint Preux with a vicious second round knockout, followed by a first round knockout performance against Corey Anderson in London this past March.
Current UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier exchanged worlds with Manuwa over social media briefly after his win over Anthony Johnson last month. Instead of booking a bout between “DC” and Manuwa, however, the returning Jon Jones will instead challenge the former Olympian for the throne, rekindling their longtime rivalry.
Jones and Cormier are expected to meet in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29th this summer in Anaheim, California, with Manuwa on standby just in case one fighter can’t make it.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports
Cormier and “Bones” have spewed out a plethora of verbal jabs at one another in the midst of their rematch, as Jones defeated Cormier back in January of 2015, but Manuwa has no interest in partaking in a war of words in the lead-up to battle. He compared Cormier and Jones’ back-and-forth banter to what you’d see in the WWE (quotes via Bloody Elbow):
“They’re trying to sell the fight, but it’s just trash talking—WWE s*it and that,” Manuwa said. “We all know they don’t like each other, but it is what it is, you know. I don’t buy into any of that trash talking and sh*t. I just let my fighting do the talking—I don’t put up with trash talk and I respect all the athletes.”
“Trust me, if anyone says anything, I always come back with full force and that. That’s why I don’t do any trash talking. I take this seriously, and I know myself and I know what my temper is like. I prefer face-to-face confrontation, so I like to keep calm and let my fighting do the talking—legally.”
When asked for a prediction on the bout, Manuwa admits he has a hard time deciding but leans towards Jones who already holds a victory over the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product:
“I don’t really know—I think it all depends on Jon Jones and what Jon Jones turns up,” Manuwa said. “It depends whether he’s rusty or whether he’s back to his best. We will have to see. I can see Cormier making it a hard night for Jones, but I dunno, it all sits with Jones. He didn’t look too great against OSP, but then again, Jones always has problems with fighters that are the same height as him. I predicted that Jones would have a few problem with OSP.”
Because of this, a change to the NYSAC’s regulations as it pertains to weigh-ins were made on April 13th. The change suggests that a fighter “shall not make physical contact with any person or object other than the scale.”
There was a time when Alexander Gustafsson mauled the greatest to ever do it.
