Alexander Gustafsson will no longer compete on the UFC 227 card.
Gustafsson was initially scheduled to clash with fellow former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir on Aug. 4. “No Time” went down with a broken nose and a replacement search was underway. That search is no longer taking place as “The Mauler” himself suffered an injury.
The timing of the news is interesting, as word broke right after Anthony Smith knocked out Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and called out Gustafsson. Smith called the timing of Gustafsson’s pullout “mighty ironic.” “The Lionheart” said prior to UFC Hamburg that he’d be willing to face Gustafsson if he walked out of his bout with Rua unscathed.
Gustafsson’s management team sent the following statement to MMAJunkie.com:
“Alex Gustafsson is out of UFC 227 with a minor injury. The injury occurred last week. Since that time, we have been working closely with the UFC doctors, our doctors in Sweden, and the experts at the UFC Performance Institute. We have been advised that Alex has a minor injury, and he will not be permitted to compete at UFC 227. Had Alex been fit to fight, we were prepared to face (Khalil) Rountree or anyone else the UFC had asked us, including (Daniel) Cormier at heavyweight. Alex will be fighting again very soon. He will give his side of the story shortly. We don’t care who the opponent is. But whomever we face it should be for the meaningful result of the LHW UFC Title.”
Gustafsson’s calls for a title shot have left many puzzled. “The Mauler” failed to capture gold in two attempts. On top of that, he hasn’t competed since May 2017. He has also gone 2-2 in his last four outings. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Who would you like to see Alexander Gustafsson match up against upon his return?
