Swedish UFC star Alexander Gustafsson looks to have a new fight in the works once again.
While appearing on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani earlier this week, Allstars Training Center’s head coach Andreas Michael revealed that Alexander Gustafsson would be returning to light heavyweight in his next bout. Now, we’re hearing that the UFC is targeting a 205 pounds contest between “The Mauler” and No. 11 ranked Ukrainian Nikita Krylov.
According to Frontkick’s sources, the bout is expected to go down at a UFC card on July 23. As recent reports suggests, the event looks to take place in the UK although a venue has not been confirmed as of yet.
Third change of opponents for Alexander Gustafsson
Prior to Nikita Krylov, Alexander Gustafsson was booked against two other opponents for his UFC return. However, both bouts got canceled for different reasons.
First, the Swede was supposed to return to light heavyweight against Scotland’s Paul Craig back in September of last year. That fight later fell through as Alexander Gustafsson had to pull out due to injury.
“The Mauler” then decided to stay at heavyweight to book a fight against American UFC veteran Ben Rothwell which was supposed to go down on May 21, as first revealed by Frontkick. But after an unexpected turn of events, Ben Rothwell later decided to ask for his release before signing with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship instead.
Now, it seems as though Alexander Gustafsson has gone back to the original plan of returning to light heavyweight – a division where he’s found tremendous success through the years as a three-time UFC title challenger.
Both fighters is coming off losses
Alexander Gustafsson holds prior wins against the reigning champion Glover Teixeira as well as the former title holder Jan Blachowicz. However, he’s currently on a three-fight loosing skid with losses to Jon Jones, Anthony Smith and most recently Fabricio Werdum in a bout that took place at heavyweight.
“The Mauler” last fought in July of 2020. Now, he returns at the age of 35 and hopes to get back to the win column against a ranked opponent.
Nikita Krylov is coming off a couple of losses himself, falling short against Magomed Ankalaev and Paul Craig in his most recent outings. The 30-year-old’s last win was against Johnny Walker back in May of 2o2o.
Follow Frontkick on Twitter for more Swedish MMA news and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content!
