Alexander Gustafsson Talks ‘Rumble’: We Aren’t In The Playground Anymore, He Needs More Wins
UFC light-heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson was being called out on a regular basis by Anthony Johnson recently. After absolutely obliterating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC on FOX 12, “Rumble” called out “The Mauler” at every opportunity. Gustafsson had recently been dropped from his title shot at UFC 178 due to a torn meniscus.
Many fans of Alexander Gustafsson still felt he deserved the next title shot, and were deiappointed when Daniel Cormier still got the shot at UFC 182, after Jon Jones was also injured. Then again, the heated beef between “DC” and “Bones” probably won the UFC brass over. Thankfully for Gus, he recently got confirmation that he will get the winner of Jones vs Cormier at UFC 182.
There was a period of time there, between Johnson calling out Gustafsson, and “The Mauler” getting confirmation of his title shot, that we didn’t really hear much from the Swedish slugger. Was he ducking “Rumble”? He speaks with Expressen, via MMAMania.com:
“I have fought both worse and better opponents. Had that (Johnson) fight taken me somewhere, I would have been the first to accept. Since his return to the UFC after being kicked out, he has beaten Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who passed his expiration date a long time ago, and Phil Davis. He needs at least a couple wins more. We are not in the playground anymore, it’s not about who is the toughest, it’s about my career. I want to have a long and successful career. You have to think tactically and you can’t just go in and swing against the first best opponent.”
It really is a minefield in MMA, in terms of waiting for title shots. With that in mind, it was a risky game for Gustafsson this year. Not only did he fight again after he should have probably been given an immediate rematch with Jones after UFC 165, but he also is rolling the dice by waiting for a title shot.
At best, Gus will be fighting for the belt in 6-8 months, but at worst, who knows? Should he have taken the bout with Johnson, or was he right to wait for the title shot that was eventually confirmed to be his? One things for sure, it worked out well when he took the fight with Jimi Manuwa, but would he have had any luck against “Rumble”?
