Alexander Gustafsson

Alexander Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist.

Gustafsson currently competes in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA career in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC, where he became a top contender and fought for the title three times.

He is often regarded as one of the best mixed martial artists never to have won a UFC Championship.

He won the national championship (youth-junior level) in 2003, at the age of 16.

Gustafsson started training MMA in 2006, and before

he trained in boxing which he started when he was around 10 years old.

Gustafsson also competed in the martial arts form of shootfighting, before starting his professional MMA career, with a Shoot record of 5–1, with 4 wins by KO/TKO and 1 by decision, his only loss came by split decision against Mats Nilsson in the Kaisho Battle 2007 event.

He also competed in a smaller amount of submission wrestling and submission grappling matches, in which he was also undefeated.

Before signing with the UFC, Gustafsson fought mostly in smaller promotions in Sweden and other parts of Europe.

In 2008–2009 he made a quick return to boxing, winning some amateur tournaments in Sweden and defeating the Swedish heavyweight boxing champion in an amateur fight.

The most notable victories in his first 8 fights came against German prospect Florian Muller, who he defeated by TKO in the second round on 13 March 2008.

Later that year, after another TKO victory against Matteo Minonzio, he replaced his former opponent Florian Muller on less than 24 hours notice against Krzysztof Kulak, who at the time was a top prospect in Poland, on 13 September 2008, at KSW Extra.

He won the fight knocking Kulak down several times, earning the unanimous decision victory.

However, his newly awakened boxing career ended when he signed with the UFC in September 2009.

By 2009, he had racked up a perfect pro-record of 8–0, with 6 wins coming by the way of KO/TKO, 1 by submission and 1 by decision.

In his last fight before he was signed to the UFC, Gustafsson fought European veteran Vladimir Shemarov on 30 May 2009 at Superior Challenge 3.

He won the fight by knockout in the first round.

Gustafsson made his UFC debut against Jared Hamman on 14 November 2009, at UFC 105.

Gustafsson dropped Hamman with a straight right punch and won the fight via KO at 0:41 in the first round.

He was set to compete in the national championship event the following year, 2010, for which he was a big favorite to win.

Gustafsson's next fight was against Phil Davis on 10 April 2010, at UFC 112.

Gustafsson lost the fight via submission due to an anaconda choke.

Prior to this, Gustafsson showed good wrestling and takedown defense which Joe Rogan praised him for.

After being softened up by brutal elbows, Gustafsson was sprawled by Davis and was forced to tap out at 4:55 of the first round.

Gustafsson faced MMA and kickboxing veteran Cyrille Diabaté at UFC 120.

In advance of this bout, Gustafsson traveled to San Diego, California, to train with Alliance MMA for a month.

At the training camp, Gustafsson trained with notable UFC fighters like his former opponent Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz, Brandon Vera, Joey Beltran and Travis Browne.

He also took grappling tips from Davis and worked to improve his strength and speed.

After dominating the first round in stand up as well as on the ground, dropping Diabate twice, Gustafsson defeated Diabate via submission (rear-naked choke) in the second round.

In post-fight interviews Gustafsson said that the main reason for his success against Diabate was the time that he spent at Alliance MMA in the training camp.

Gustafsson won his second straight UFC fight on 27 February 2011, at UFC 127 where he defeated James Te-Huna in the first round by submission due to a rear-naked choke.

Gustafsson was expected to face Vladimir Matyushenko on 6 August 2011, at UFC 133.

But Matyushenko pulled out of the fight due to injury and was replaced by Matt Hamill.

In the 2nd round, Gustafsson dropped Hamill with a straight punch followed by two uppercuts, finishing Hamill by TKO, with punches and elbows from the mount.

Hamill announced his retirement shortly after the fight.

Gustafsson eventually faced Matyushenko on 30 December 2011, at UFC 141.

He defeated Matyushenko by TKO in the first round after dropping him with a jab and finishing with punches on the ground.

After the win UFC President Dana White said that a first round finish of Matyushenko, who he referred to as a gatekeeper at the time, made it clear that Gustafsson was a force to be reckoned with and that he would get a step up in competition for his next fight.

Gustafsson was expected to face Antônio Rogério Nogueira on 14 April 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 2 in Stockholm, Sweden, but Nogueira pulled out of the fight due to an injury and was replaced by Thiago Silva.