It’s the rematch we all want to see, but after the UFC Stockholm result it seems like a rematch that will never happen. Or at least not anytime soon.
Back in 2013, Alexander Gustafsson took on the champion Jon Jones at UFC 165 in a fight many fans and media pundits felt Gus won. Ultimately the judges decided differently but the fight became an instant classic for being the first fight where Jon Jones was made to look human.
Since then luck has not been on the 28-year-old Swedes side. A rematch was scheduled but Gus was forced to pull out due to injury, he then had to fight back to contendership and finally had to prove himself again against one of the most feared strikers in the division in Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson.
It was ultimately a step too far.
Now Alex has claimed he is done trying to coax Jon into a fight.
“No, right now it’s done. I need to recover,” Gustafsson said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’m out of that dream. I need to get back and work harder.”
In front of 30,000 fans in own country, Gustafsson was visibly upset with his KO loss against “Rumble.”. Gustafsson explained what he was feeling. But he made no excuses, putting the loss down to the serious power that Johnson manages to throw in each punch.
“It was just a lot of pain. I just lost my fight. I just lost in front of 30,000 Swedish fans,” Gustafsson explained. “It was a tough thing to deal with and it still is. Whatever hurts you gets you stronger though, so it’s all good.”
“Well, I got hit… I felt fine all the way through the fight, into the fight, the few minutes that we were fighting each other,” Gustafsson continued. “He caught me. He saw his opportunity and he took it and he did what he had to do to win the fight. I’m gonna take a few days off, go back to the gym and hit the bag. You’re always learning from your mistakes, and I learned today that I need to keep my guard up. So, that’s it.”
So if he can’t take on Jones, who does he think will win between the champion and new-challenger ‘Rumble’?
“Well, Anthony,” Gustafsson said. “He’s my favorite.”
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