Alexander Gustafsson’s road back to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had a tremendous speed bump in it—Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. The hard charging light heavyweight’s incredible striking was too much for Gustafsson to handle in Sweden Saturday night, and after a first round knockout Johnson, not Gustafsson is next in line for a title shot.
That does not mean Gustafsson’s title dreams are gone. He can still work his way back into contention, and his stock won’t drop too far because of a loss to a true contender. Here are the Top 3 fights that Gustafsson can take in an effort to rebuild his stock.
Ryan Bader (19-4)
On the same UFC Fight Night card that Gustafsson suffered his shocking loss, Bader toughed out a tactical fight vs. Phil Davis, a man who has a much longer reach and greater athleticism.
Bader’s striking was crisp, and his takedown defense strong. He entered the fight ranked No. 7 and upset a Top 5 fighter. He should continue his way up, and a fight with Gustafsson makes sense as either a bounce-back fight for the latter, or the next step in Bader’s ascension.
Phil Davis (13-3)
Davis is a supremely talented fighter, but he’s lost two out of his last three and is on the verge of turning into something of an also-ran. He hasn’t been able to put his significant tools together in big spots against elite competition like Rumble Johnson, Rashad Evans or Bader.
Still, the loss to Bader wasn’t embarrassing. He held up well against good strikes and the decision could have gone either way—one judge did score it in Davis’ favor. Mr. Wonderful’s talent will keep breeding opportunities, and a Davis-Gustafsson matchup makes for two athletic marvels sharing the octagon.
Daniel Cormier (15-1)
Cormier gave a spirited performance against Jon Jones at UFC 182, dominating Round 2 and scoring a huge takedown in Round 5 against “Bones.” A loss is a loss though, and he clearly lost to Jones in their title fight.
Losing to Jones doesn’t crush any fighter’s stock, and Cormier remains near the top of the light heavyweight heap. If Gustafsson hadn’t suffered a training camp injury months ago, it would’ve been him inside the octagon vs. Jones instead of Cormier anyway.
With both fighters trying to rebound from defeats, it makes sense to place two super-talented men with contrasting styles in an interesting eliminator-style matchup with the winner earning a chance to face the winner of Jones-Johnson.
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