Report: Alexander Gustafsson returning to light heavyweight against Paul Craig

At one time a seemingly perennial title contender, MMA has not been kind to Alexander Gustafsson lately. Still only 34-years-old, the ‘Mauler’ has competed…

By: Zane Simon | 2 years ago
Report: Alexander Gustafsson returning to light heavyweight against Paul Craig
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

At one time a seemingly perennial title contender, MMA has not been kind to Alexander Gustafsson lately. Still only 34-years-old, the ‘Mauler’ has competed just nine times in the last eight years, putting together a 3-6 record in the Octagon—and currently riding a three-fight losing streak.

The Allstars Training Center athlete was last seen in July of 2020, in a heavyweight contest against former champ Fabricio Werdum. That fight came after another year of absence during which Gustafsson seemed to be washing his hands of mixed martial arts altogether. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, however. And the Swede decided to try and reignite his passion for MMA up a division at 265 lbs. Werdum won the fight via first round submission.

And while Gustafsson didn’t sound like he was about to walk away once again after tasting defeat, another year on the sidelines seems to have pushed him back down to the division where he spent the bulk of his career.

Swedish MMA site FrontKick reports that Gustafsson is targeting a return to the cage this coming September at a planned UFC Fight Night event. There he’ll be facing streaking Scottish light heavyweight talent Paul Craig.

‘Bearjew’ is fresh off a first round submission victory over Jamahal Hill at UFC 263. The win was the Scottish Hit Squad talent’s third straight in the Octagon, putting him on a five-fight unbeaten streak, including a 2019 draw to Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

UFC Fight Night 193 is set to take place on September 4th. The event has yet to be given an official location or headlining bout. A light heavyweight fight between Khalil Rountree and Modestas Bukauskas has also been penciled in for the card, along with a bantamweight bout between Nathaniel Wood and Jonathan Martinez. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates as they become available.

Share this story

About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

More from the author

Bloody Elbow Podcast
Related Stories