Alexander Gustafsson: I Plan On Knocking Jon Jones Out, I Don’t Care If He Knows
Top ranked UFC light-heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson will be eternally linked to current champion Jon Jones after their epic UFC 165 battle. The mid-2013 ‘Fight of the year’ winner was one of the best fights ever seen in the cage. The title stayed with ‘Bones’, but many fans believe Gustafsson took a piece of the champ that night.
‘The Mauler’ spoke with Yahoo Sports recently, to discuss the first fight with Jones, and the potential rematch after UFC 172:
“I still think I won the fight,” Gustafsson said. “I’ll grant you that Jon really got me in the fourth round and that slowed me down in the final two rounds. But this time I’m not going to let the judges decide. This time, I’ll have a better idea of what it takes. This time I plan on knocking him out and I don’t care if he knows that.”
Gus came closer than anyone to beating Jones when they fought over five rounds, but many fans think the Swedish fan favourite did enough to take home the win. ‘The Mauler’ lived up to his name in the dangerous rebound from 165, when he took on heavy hitting local Jimi Manuwa in London earlier this year. Something he was only too happy to do:
“I didn’t mind taking the fight,” Gustafsson said. “I liked the challenge of fighting him in his hometown and I wanted to send the message, leave no doubt, that I’m the man who should get the next title shot. I think I accomplished my goal. I think [Glover’s] a dangerous fighter,” Gustafsson said. “He’s good all-around and he hits very hard, a very hard striker. But he also just kind of wades forward and doesn’t use any movement, and I think that’s the style Jon is just going to pick apart once he figures out his range. So I expect Jones to win the fight.”
Gustafsson shares the same views on Jones vs. Teixeira as most fans and pundits at the minute, but I can’t help sensing a huge upset in the making here. Chael Sonnen was written off ahead of his bout with Jones, which is very understandable, but I’m not sure that GT is being given enough credit here.
Either way, I hope Jones wins just for the rematch with Gustafsson. It’s often tricky predicting the far (or even immediate) future in MMA title pictures, but we can hope that Gustafsson and Jones will eventually rematch their UFC 165 classic.
Photo: Tom Szczerbowski for USA Today Sports
