Alexander Gustafsson Now Willing to Take Another Fight Before Getting Title Shot

---

Alexander Gustafsson has apparently changed his tune.

According to a report on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight, the Swedish light heavyweight is now willing to take another fight before he gets a title shot. Previously, Gustafsson had expressed his displeasure that the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier fight originally scheduled for UFC 178 was rebooked for Jan. 3 after Jones suffered a knee injury in training. Gustafsson was supposed to get his rematch with Jones at the Sept. 27 event before withdrawing due to a knee injury of his own

“We are not happy,” Gustafsson’s trainer, Andreas Michael, told Sherdog.com last month . “Alex is the number one contender; he got injured and [the] UFC went to Plan B. Now if that fight is not happening, of course Alex and Jones should be right back. That is the fight we want and the fans want. Everyone wants that fight because the previous fight was one of the best fights ever. Alex deserves the fight. Who has ‘DC’ fought? Has he earned a title fight? Who has he beat in the light heavy division?”

However, Gustafsson’s manager, Manos Terzitaine, told UFC Tonight that his fighter has warmed to the idea of accepting a fight in the interim rather than simply waiting on the winner of Jones-Cormier.

That change in thinking could lead to a showdown with the streaking Anthony Johnson, who has posted dominant victories over Phil Davis and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira since returning to the Octagon. UFC President Dana White recently said that a Gustafsson-Davis pairing made sense.

Gustafsson hasn’t fought since March, when he stopped Jimi Manuwa via second-round TKO at the UFC Fight Night Clash in London. “The Mauler” gave Jones the toughest test of his career to date at UFC 165, battling the champion tooth-and-nail before losing a hard-fought five-round verdict.