Alexander Gustafsson Addresses Pulling Out Of UFC 227
Alexander Gustafsson has discussed the reasoning behind his withdrawal of UFC 227.
Gustafsson was supposed to fight former title contender Volkan Oezdemir at the upcoming UFC 227 pay-per-view event but that fight got nixed after the former title contender pulled out of the bout due to injury, which led to Gustafsson waiting to see if the promotion can find him a suitable replacement, but he then suffered a minor injury and as a result, it was one of a few setbacks for a fighter who is just looking to build any momentum in the past few years
Gustafsson spoke with Ariel Helwani of ESPN this week about what he calls a string of bad luck and frustrated by how everything has played out.
“All I can tell you is that I’ve been very frustrated, these couple of days,” Gustafsson said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “I feel like it doesn’t go my way, really. It’s just crazy. I don’t want to talk about my injury, it’s just a minor injury. It’s nothing to talk about really. It’s just a thing, and it gets on my nerves. But it is was it is. I’m here now, and I’ll do everything in my power to bounce back and I will in a couple of weeks.”
“It’s been frustrating,” Gustafsson said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I feel like I don’t have any flow right now. It’s just f**king crazy, I’m telling you, I’m so frustrated because this was my card, this was my fight, then Volkan fell off. It was a fight that really motivated me, to fight Volkan. It’s the best fight for me and it makes the most sense. I felt great fighting him and everything but then he got injured, and you know, it is what it is. S**t happens. Whatever they put on the table, I’ll fight him. I’m in the best shape of my life, and then I got injured. I get injured from nowhere. It’s just crazy, that’s all I can say to you. It’s just crazy.”
Since losing to UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at the UFC 192 pay-per-view event, he has won back-to-back fights as he scored a unanimous decision victory over Jan Blachowicz and knocking out Glover Teixeira.
The UFC 227 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
