Gustafsson believes Cormier has ‘tons’ of weaknesses he can exploit during title fight

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Several Saturdays ago, the UFC featured a light-heavyweight title fight without longtime titleholder Jon Jones for the first time since 2011. As Daniel Cormier was crowned champion following a third round submission win against Anthony Johnson, a former challenger watched with overwhelming frustration.

Many believed that Alexander Gustafsson should have been crowned champion when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones at UFC 165 in Toronto. It was widely viewed as Jones’ most competitive fight and set the two competitors up for an immediate rematch.

Sadly, the contest never came to fruition. From there, Gustafsson watched himself stray further and further from a coveted title shot rematch.

However, while Gustafsson is coming off a first round KO loss to Johnson, he was awarded a title fight against new champ Cormier, a decision that surprised many fans and pundits alike.

Thankful for the unexpected opportunity, Gustasson plans to make the best of the situation in front of him.

“I haven’t actually even been thinking that much about the belt,” said Gustafsson. “I haven’t seen myself in that position, really, because of my loss. But here I am now and I’m very thankful. I’m so happy and very excited. I can’t wish for more.”

Asked about the UFC”s surprising decision to place him in a title fight coming off a decisive loss, Gustafsson explained that the promotion simply preferred the stylistic match-up between himself and Cormier.

“I believe that the UFC wants to see me against DC. That’s so simple. They really want to see us fight. Also, a good job from my managers, too. They’ve been working hard for this opportunity and I’m very thankful for this so I can’t wait.”

The Swedish star also revealed that there are several weaknesses in Cormier’s game that he would look to exploit.

“Tons of them,” said Gustafsson. “It was so frustrating to watch that fight, but it is what it is. Anthony did a great job winning over me. All credit to him. DC did a great job against Anthony. That’s MMA.”

Transcription taken from MMAFighitng.com.

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.