Alexander Gustafsson
[autotag]Alexander Gustafsson[/autotag] has had a few heartbreaking losses.
One of the best talents to ever come out of Europe, Sweden’s Gustafsson made waves in a light heavyweight division that champion Jon Jones was in the process of dominating. After going 7-1 to start his UFC career, Gustafsson earned a shot at Jones at UFC 165 and was a heavy betting underdog going into the fight.
Very few gave Gustafsson a chance, but he surprised the masses by taking it right to Jones. He became the first to take Jones down and bloodyied and battered him over the course of 25 minutes. Jones never had taken so much damage thanks to Gustafsson standing toe-to-toe with the champion.
But after the judges rendered their scorecards, Jones was awarded the decision win in a fight many people thought he lost. A distraught Gustafsson may have lost on the night, but he went on to become one of the sport’s biggest stars.
He rebounded with a finish over Jimi Manuwa, but was knocked out by Anthony Johnson in front of a sold-out home crowd in a title eliminator fight. Despite the loss, Gustafsson got another shot at the title against then-champ Daniel Cormier.
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Gustafsson put on another fantastic effort and even dropped Cormier early. But the judges once again decided his fate, and Cormier was awarded the decision in another tightly contested title bout. Back-to-back wins over Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira earned Gustafsson a third UFC title shot in a much anticipated rematch with Jones at UFC 232.
But the second fight was hardly as thrilling as the first. After some good exchanges on the feet, Jones took the fight to the canvas and was able to finish the fight shortly after. Following the loss to Jones, Gustafsson dropped another fight in his home country to Anthony Smith and proceeded to hang up his gloves.
He recently expressed interest in coming out of retirement. But whether or not he decides to return, Gustafsson is certainly one of the division’s greatest fighters.
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