Alexander Gustafsson
A recurring theme of getting within touching distance of UFC title glory, only to see it slip through his fingers appears to have slowly eroded Alexander Gustafsson’s will to fight.
Gustafsson gave Jones one of the toughest fights of his title reign at UFC 163 in 2013, but he came out on the wrong end of a decision, and despite all the talk being about an immediate rematch, it failed to transpire.
Gustafsson would go on to lose a title elimination fight with Anthony Johnson a year later, then came incredibly close to defeating Daniel Cormier for the vacant title later in 2015, before losing by split decision.
The following year Gustafsson admitted he had been slowly struggling more and more to get motivated as the losses and injury lay-offs got under his skin.
‘The Mauler’ remained an integral part of the division though and would get a second chance to fight Jones in late 2018, but after losing again and then being submitted by Anthony Smith earlier this month he told fans “the show is over guys.”
It’s telling that leading the tributes to Gustafsson afterwards were all-time greats Jones and Cormier, with the latter saying the Swede was “one of the biggest players in my journey.”
At 32, Gustafsson is still a force to be reckoned with, but it seems that it’s more of a mental rather than a physical burden that’s led to his decision.
