A. Gustafsson (photo) should have one more fight before fighting for the belt, says White. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The president of the UFC, Dana White, threw cold water on the intentions of Alexander Gustafson and stated that the Swede must have one more fight before being able to challenge again for the organization's light heavyweight belt.
Gustafsson was scheduled to have a rematch with the champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 178, in September. Although, “The Mauler” suffered a knee injury during training, being replaced by Daniel Cormier In the event. Recently, however, It was Jones' turn to suffer an injury and leave the card, moving his next defense to January 3rd.
The Swede then asked to return to the title fight, as he will be ready to fight at the beginning of next year. In an interview with the UFC's official website, White stated that Jones' next defense will in fact be against Cormier.
“Gustafsson is upset, but it's not like we took him out of the fight. He got hurt and left. Cormier came in as a substitute and accepted the fight, and this is the fight that will happen now”, explained the director, who emphasized: “The reality is that we had booked Gustafsson x Jones, he was the next challenger and that was the fight. But he got hurt. He left the fight. People might say that now it’s Jones who’s hurt, but that’s the fight that’s going to happen now.”
White stated that Gustafsson should return to the Octagon one more time before aiming for another fight, as his last fight was in March of this year – which would represent a long period of inactivity if he returns directly against the winner of Jones x Cormier. “Gustafsson will probably fight again. He will probably fight again to stay active, to stay in people's minds and to make money,” added White, who added that a Gustafsson fight against Anthony Johnson It's the fight that would make the most sense.
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