UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson (18-5) is on his road to redemption after the loss he suffered in his rematch with Jon Jones via KO last December.
The Swedish’s next fight is against Anthony Smith (31-14) on June 1 when he’ll be returning to his home country at UFC Stockholm. Before the Jones rematch, “The Mauler” was inactive for nearly 18 months and he certainly was not on the level we were used to seeing him.
The 32-year-old understands the situation and he knows that the clash with Smith is a must-win one if he wants to stay relevant.
“He’s a big hitter and he has a lot of heart and he has a lot of fights behind him,” Gustafsson told The MMA Hour.
“He’s a guy with a good team behind him, and this is going to be a real challenge. And that’s why I’m doing this, to challenge myself. When I beat him, I’m going to just move in the rankings. If I don’t beat him, if he beats me, then maybe I don’t have it anymore. So I’ll just take it from there.”
The 30-year-old Smith who also lost his previous bout against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is probably the toughest challenge out there and if “Lionheart” claims the win, he won’t be waiting too long for a rematch with “Bones”.
