UFC Fight Night Gustafsson vs. Teixeira: Swedish star hoping to thrust himself into title contention

UFC welterweight and commentator Dan Hardy looks ahead to this weekend’s event, as the UFC returns to Sweden with a light heavyweight clash topping the card

Dan Hardy
UFC welterweight and commentator
Friday 26 May 2017 14:11 BST
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Alexander Gustafsson is working his way towards a rematch with Jon Jones
Alexander Gustafsson is working his way towards a rematch with Jon Jones

The beautiful city of Stockholm once again plays host to the UFC Octagon this weekend, with the sport’s most successful Swedish fighter topping the bill in what looks to be a number one contender bout in the light heavyweight division.

Alexander Gustafsson will welcome Brazilian-born Glover Teixeira to his hometown and hopes to put on a performance that will thrust him into the title conversation - or perhaps even more importantly, a rematch with Jon Jones, upon the American’s return to competition.

Twice Gustafsson has attempted to claim the title and twice he has been turned away by a small margin on the judges’ scorecards. His first shot was against Jones, at UFC 165 back in 2013 before he was stripped of the title, and for the first time we saw real vulnerability in the defending champion.

The Swedish warrior was able to stop Jones’ takedown efforts and score one of his own in the first round which shocked everyone. It was the first time Jones had been taken down and was a real statement for Gustafsson to make, not only to the champion but to the rest of the division as well.

His second shot was against the current champion, Daniel Cormier at UFC 192 two years later. In another hard-fought bout Gustafsson came up short again but that performance left no doubt that he was a legitimate contender to the crown.

After that he took almost a full year out to regroup and then came back to claim a victory over tough Polish fighter, Jan Blachowicz. Alex showed growth in his game and maturity in his approach as he shut Blachowicz down for three rounds, dominating him on the ground and landing some punishing ground and pound.

Now he finds himself within reach of a third shot at the light heavyweight gold and the man standing between him and that opportunity is Glover Teixeira. A second degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, with a Tyson-esque boxing style that sees him landing hard punches at very close range, he will be the shorter fighter but comes in with a lot of additional experience.

Now fighting out of Danbury, Connecticut, he has worked extensively with high-level American MMA fighters, including Chuck Liddell and his coach, John Hackleman.

This has brought Glover to the top level of the sport and much like Alex, Glover has already had an opportunity to take the title, in April 2014, and was shut down by Jones for the full 25 minutes.

Gustafsson has a third shot to land light heavyweight gold

Although it’s difficult to prepare for Jones, the feeling of his opponent being out of reach will be familiar and against Gustafsson he will have to throw caution to the wind and try to get inside the long reach of the Swedish star and rough him up. If he can initiate a grappling exchange he will stand an even better chance of causing the upset but Gustafsson has excellent takedown defence also.

The winner looks to be the next logical opponent for whoever is the champion once DC and Jones have settled the score. What is interesting here is that the title in this division is almost secondary to the top few fighters. For Jones and DC it’s more about beating the man in front of them than getting the belt around their waist. The gold strap is a nice bonus I’m sure, but the real victory here would be a win over Jones, and that goes for everyone, including the current champion.

Many people still see Jones as the best light heavyweight on the planet and even with his foolish extra-curricular activities which took his belt in the first place, it still feels like he is the man to beat. Gustafsson, having come so close in the past, must be confident that he can get the job done in a rerun and collect the belt at the same time.

Gustafsson is angling for a rematch with Jon Jones

For Glover it feels like more of an uphill battle. Many in the MMA media feel that this is an old school versus new school kind of fight, but Teixeira has all of the tools of a modern MMA fighter, just with the mentality of the pioneers of this division.

Much like Chuck Liddell, Glover is there more for the actual fight itself than the accolades that come with it. His aggressive and dominating style is always exciting to watch and Gustafsson is an intriguing problem for him to figure out. There is no doubt that he has to push forward, otherwise he will be on the end of a very long jab all night, but that suits Glover just fine. You can always guarantee that Teixeira will be coming for war and with Gustafsson and thousands of Swedish fans in attendance, that’s exactly what he will get.

Ericsson Globe will be electric this Sunday afternoon and the fights are being broadcast live into millions of homes around the world. The build up to the main event will set the stage perfectly, with a number of local fighters representing Sweden alongside their standard bearer, Alexander Gustafsson. From fan favourites like Reza ‘Mad Dog’ Madadi stepping in for a short notice fight, to the newest signing in Oliver Enkamp, this fight card has some of the best European and Scandinavian athletes, taking on top international competition.

Watch UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira live on BT Sport 2 from 4pm BST on Sunday 28th May, or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 3pm BST

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