In the main event of UFC 232, Jon “Bones” Jones will make his Octagon return in the long-anticipated rematch against Alexander Gustafsson. The two have traded barbs for years now, with the feud continuing at the UFC 232 Press Conference earlier this month, where Jones capped off the conference with a shove of his upcoming foe. But underneath all the words that have been exchanged between Jones and Gustafsson, Gustafsson is pumped to be having the fight of his life and he knows exactly what he is dealing with when he steps into the Octagon against a fighter the magnitude of Jon Jones (transcript via BJPenn.com):
“It’s just so much excitement,” Gustafsson said on The MMA Hour last week. “It’s so much motivation. I got this fire in me and I’m just eager to get in there again. It’s been a long time for me since I fought, and like I said, I can’t ask for more. I can’t find a better way to get back in that Octagon than fighting Jon for the belt. It’s just massive, man. It’s massive.
“He’s a really talented fighter. He’s a very smart fighter,” Gustafsson continued. “Whatever Jon does, in that Octagon he has a strategy and he’s a very smart fighter with a good eye, so you can’t relax. You can’t relax with this guy. You can’t even give him an inch. You have be on your toes the whole fight, you have to be ready the whole fight. So, that’s how I see Jon now. Jon has just been so impressive, that’s why he never lost. So, he is just that guy. He’s been beating everybody, so we all know how he is and how he’s been.”
The pound-for-pound rankings may have two fighters currently ahead of Jones, Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov, but for Gustafsson, Jones is the true owner of the top spot in the rankings, and that will affect how he approaches his opponent at the year-end event:
“He’s the best fighter in the world,” Gustafsson added. “For me, he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter, so like I said, I can’t relax for a second when I fight him.”
Do you agree with Alexander Gustafsson’s comments about Jon Jones?
