Title Shot Diaries: Alexander Gustafsson deserves it more
Posted on August 8, 2012, 04:22 PM by Anton Gurevich
Fresh off his victory over Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 4, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida was immediately proclaimed as the new number one contender in the UFC Light Heavyweight division. Machida will be facing the winner of UFC 151’s Jones vs. Henderson main event match-up, with sights on re-claiming the title he lost back at UFC 114.
Machida’s promotion to the number one contender met a strong amount of criticism from MMA fans around the world, who began to visualize the rematch with Jon Jones. Obviously, Jones has to get past Dan Henderson for the rematch to take place, but at the same time, there’s no doubt about Jackson-Winkeljohn product being a clear favorite against Hendo.
In the build-up to last weekend’s card, Dana White promised the title shot to the most convincing winner out of Machida vs. Bader, and Shogun vs. Vera. A quick google search will reveal that Jones finished all four of the mentioned above fighters with no “controversial” judges’ scorecards, disqualification, or submission victory with less than 30 seconds on the clock.
Yes, Machida proved he’s currently one level above Ryan Bader, no one doubts his achievements in this fight. However, let’s not forget that the Brazilian is 2-3 in his last five fights, and a number of unbalanced performances. More than anything, it’s hard to picture “The Dragon” dethroning Jon Jones.
Personally, I would absolutely love to see Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson. It’s a fantastic clash of styles, just like Hendo vs. Shogun II for the title.
It seems like the Ultimate Fighting Championship are slowly falling into the trap of recycling fights. Frankie Edgar will have his third consecutive rematch this weekend (!), while the likes of Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard get on seven-fight win streaks, and drop out of the title race simply because you can’t win forever.
Light Heavyweight division used to be the flagship of the UFC. Yes, Jon Jones is THAT good to clean out the division, but still, there’s a number of young contenders who can add some fuel to the fire.
So why not Alexander Gustafsson? The young Swede is on a five-fight win streak, with some quality finishes against Top 10 UFC talent. At least on paper, it looks like Gustafsson is a perfect contender for Henderson/Jones. Gustafsson’s footwork, and overall fighting style are a joy to behold. He’s a fresh product in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, and at least in my opinion, "The Mauler" more than ready to get his title shot.
Prior to UFC on FOX 4, Gustafsson was the only Top 10 UFC 205’er on a serious win streak. Six-and-one in the UFC is a great achievement, especially when you beat Thiao Silva, Matyushenko, Hamill, and others. Even today, Machida and Rua need at least one victory to show certain degree of consistency.
I’m sure Lyoto Machida could give Jon Jones a very tough test inside the Octagon, and then again, Henderson vs. Machida is such a great match-up. Until then, give it to Gustafsson.
Comments
I don't believe Alex is quite ready or has necessarily done enough to earn the title shot against the champ, however I would much rather watch him fight Jones than see Jones-Machida 2. Not only is Jones a lot bigger in frame than most LHWs its clear that Machida should really be fighting at middleweight. The fact that he's an elite 205er despite walking around at 210-215 lbs is testimony to how great a fighter he is, but the physical gap between him and Jones is probably just too big.
Yeah, but the Silva / Machida friendship won't let him move down for a couple of years.
If Gus were a boxer in the sixties his coach would not want a title shot. I agree with you that he isn't ready and could have a great career if he is brought along carefully getting him fights that challenge him and let him learn through experience without overwhelming him. Gus In a year.
Its simple.....Alex has not fought anyone in the LHW Div who is top 5. He needs to fight 2more fights with top 5 contenders....
Gustafson won a 5 round decision against thiago Silva... you dont get a title shot with a performance like that.
Also Machida muredered Thiago Sivla back in the days
He handily won a 5 round decision against Thiago Silva. Finishes dont tell it all. If it did you would have said Tito would beat Jones after the Bader fight because Tito finished him in the 1st while it took Jones 2 rounds.
And Gus needs one more fight against a top 5. He deserves a top 5 guy..
And Jones got his title shot with a top 10 win over Bader. Gus with one more fight then a title shot....which equals about 8 months+ until he actually fights for the title.
Is this the really tall guy who some people were comparing to machida earlier this year?! Ohh the irony.
Remeber that Money and PPV numbers make the Fights !
I agree about Frankie Edgar vs Bendo II should not happen because of the great contestants in the line some of who i believe are better than Edgar.
But with Lyoto I disagree because of Dragons showed skills. Gustafsson should be next after the rematch.
There might not be a Jones vs Machida 2. It could be a Machida vs Hendo card.
With Jones walking through the top tier fighters in the 205 division, its starting to replicate the 185 division. I agree with Gustafsson getting the fight over Machida...I mean prior to the Machida v Jones fight, I believed Machida was the only fighter in the division to rival him. Jones finished him and left Machida on the canvas out cold.
UFC is building fighters so we can see that "hyped" fight. Instead of recycling the fights, why not make a new reality show involving the current UFC roster.
While it may feel like the UFC is recycling fights it is really just a case of the top 3 under Jones, Machida, Rashad and Shogun just keep knocking down all other contenders (with the exception of Hendo). Personally I feel that the its the 3 gate keepers to the 7th level of hell that is the reason for the rematches vs Jones that are likely to start coming up.
Gustafsson is one an impressive win streak, yes he is. Gustafsson vs Jones would be in interesting fight, yes it will be. But has Gustafsson earned a title shot without ever fighting one of the top 5 guys? I really don't think so.
I am Swedish and I don't think Gustafsson deserves it more then the Dragon.
I don´t understand the "he isn´t ready" argument, when the man (Gustaffson) is fighting in the same organization (UFC), with the same quality fighters in the same division. I agree with the writer when he says the UFC is stuck recycling fights..because they are. All these guys have been violated by Jon Jones inside the Octagon. Gustaffson is not getting a title shot because he´s well, not a household name...he won´t sell enough tickets to justify a possible dethroning of Jon Jones...and then you´re left with an unknown as the Champion and that will hurt ´bottom line´ numbers. And I don´t blame the UFC for doing that, in the end, it IS a business after all; it´s just simply not fair for fighters that actually should be getting title shots and quite possibly not fair to us, the fans, because we would probably see a much more contended fight between Jones vs. Gustaffson than between Jones vs. Lyoto. Lyoto is called top contender because he´s the only one that has managed to graze Jones with a punch...give me a break. And give other more deserving fighters a run at the belt.
its simple... he did not beat a top 5 guy... period!
He needs to earn the shot and u earn it by beating a top guy!
Ryan Bader is not a top 5 guy
Whenever the Champ beats the crap out of the #1 contender...that former #1 contender should automatically go to the bottom of the pile. He has no business being between the Champ and a title shot for the up and coming fighters; it´s just not logical.
That's a little too rigid. Say there is Jones, Contender 1 and then next nine guys are absolutely terrible. In your scheme Contender 1 would become Contender 10 behind new kids just brought in and people that Contender 1 already slaughtered.
I think your premise is okay be needs some fine tuning. For example, if Jones beats Contender 1 he moves down to a logical spot based on who he has beaten or who consensus says he would likely beat handily. Then he can work his way back up. So in this example Machida should have to have a couple of fights before he gets Jones again. He should have to beat other top contenders.
I'm okay with that plan.
I agree with that. I just typed up my comment in a moment of anger without really thinking it through lol. I´m just pretty tired of the UFC putting on mediocre, lackluster events, not giving new guys a chance and basically milking the hell out of tired, worn out veterans of the sport...milk them for all they´ve got until they just can´t perform at all. Hmmm, that seemed a little harsh too I guess, but it seems like that sometimes. I love the sport, I love the UFC, I just think it needs to mature, administration-wise, in order for it to gain more credibility in the Sports world. All the credit in the world to Fertittas and Dana White, I just think they could manage the organization more professionally from scoring to judging to choosing top contenders to salaries and the like.
Gustafsson vs Shogun... Make it happen Joe Silva
Agreed! Gus vs Shogun. Winner gets either Hendo or Jones.
or Machida if he wins ;-)
Or Machida. You are correct. Can't believe I jumped that far ahead.....
The truth is the only really high level guy he faced is Davis and we know what happened.....he did beat Silva but after a lonf lay off and at home.....I call hype on this one...let he beat shogun and we go from there.
Davis got lucky, that fight would have a much different ending if they fought again... Gustafsson is 10x better when it comes to picking things up, and having a true fighters spirit. Davis couldn't strike a match.
He deserves it perhaps but he doesn't want it yet so it shouldn't be forced
Not sure Machida should get a shot at the title right now just because he beat bader. Honestly bader lost to tito who hadn't won a fight in how long? I don't really think anyone at the moment is ready to take on jones. Lets just see how hendo jones fight goes, see some other match ups before we name whos ready for a title shot. Alex vs Rua would be great and if Glover beats rampage, Glover vs Machida would be very interesting.
Interesting matchups. Alex vs Rua, Glover vs Machida
Winner fight 1 vs Winner fight 2
Top Contender
That´s how it should´ve been played. What are Bader and Vera doing up there?
Glover vs Machida isn't happening. They train together.
This match up simply put can be broken down in five words. Fight someone your own size.
Alex is a stud and so is Jones it's a fight we haven't seen and I don't think anybody gives Machida a chance against Jones a second time around.