Tag: Alexander Gustafsson

Ilir Latifi to Sub In for Alexander Gustafsson Against Gegard Mousasi at UFC on Fuel TV 9


I can’t help but feel I’ve seen this picture before… (Image via adccbarcelona.com)

It has only been a few hours since we learned that Alexander Gustafsson was officially forced out of the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 9 due to a gash in his eyebrow, yet the UFC has already announced who Gegard Mousasi’s new opponent will be. No, it won’t be Wanderlei Silva. No, it won’t be Tom Lawlor, either. I know, I’m just as disappointed as you are.

Instead, Dana White took to his Twitter account to announce that UFC newcomer Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi will be fighting Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 9. Via Twitter:

Not to be a pessimist, but when your boss misspells your name while announcing that you’ll be fighting a UFC-ranked Top Ten light-heavyweight, things aren’t exactly looking good for you.


I can’t help but feel I’ve seen this picture before… (Image via adccbarcelona.com)

It has only been a few hours since we learned that Alexander Gustafsson was officially forced out of the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 9 due to a gash in his eyebrow, yet the UFC has already announced who Gegard Mousasi’s new opponent will be. No, it won’t be Wanderlei Silva. No, it won’t be Tom Lawlor, either. I know, I’m just as disappointed as you are.

Instead, Dana White took to his Twitter account to announce that UFC newcomer Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi will be fighting Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 9. Via Twitter:

Not to be a pessimist, but when your boss misspells your name while announcing that you’ll be fighting a UFC-ranked Top Ten light-heavyweight, things aren’t exactly looking good for you.

A quick glance at Latifi’s qualifications won’t exactly change your outlook, either. Aside from being a training partner of Alexander Gustafsson, Latifi is 7-2 as a professional with one no contest. He has fought one guy you’ve heard of, and lost that fight by unanimous decision back at Shark Fights 17 in July 2011. Also of note, he is only 5’8” tall, giving Gegard Mousasi a significant height advantage. It is what it is, I guess.

As MMAJunkie is reporting, Mousasi vs. Latifi will be the new main event of UFC on Fuel 9. However, due to the bout being booked on short notice, it will be three rounds instead of five rounds.

Does Ilir Latifi have any chance here, or will Gegard Mousasi be too much for the Swedish prospect? Or for that matter, does this card still appeal to you, or are you planning on watching something else this Saturday? Let us know how you feel in the comments section.

@SethFalvo

Alexander Gustafsson Officially Out of UFC on FUEL 9, Replacement is Definitely Not Wanderlei Silva. Probably.


(If you ask us, it looks like someone is just ducking Kimbo. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting. ) 

Put the rumors, hearsay, and outright troll jobs to rest; Alexander Gustafsson will not be fighting Gegard Mousasi this Saturday at UFC on FUEL 9. The Swede, who received a cut in training a few days back, was scheduled to undergo a second pre-fight exam earlier today to determine whether or not he would be cleared to face Mousasi. And unfortunately, the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation just passed along the news (via MMAFighting) that Gustafsson’s cut was simply too severe to allow him to fight on the 6th:

The SMMAF Medical Committee has today reviewed the circumstances regarding Gustafsson and his injury. The SMMAF Medical Committee recognizes that a competitor cannot be medically cleared earlier than the day before the match. However, bearing in mind that a correct medical examination that met the regulatory demands has been performed, nothing in the SMMAF regulations hinders the SMMAF Medical Committee from making a decision to stop Gustafsson from competing. As it is clear that Alexander Gustafsson will not be fit to compete as planned and cannot be medically cleared on Friday the 5th of April, the SMMAF Medical Committee has today decided that Alexander Gustafsson will not be allowed to participate in the planned match on April 6th. 

It looks like Gustafsson’s future title aspirations will have to be put on hold for the moment.

We will update you as soon as we learn of Gustafsson’s replacement, although Wikipedia has currently pegged none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the man to step up in Gustafsson’s absence. Should be a good scrap, but considering how garbage-ass the rest of the card is, the UFC might also want to consider forcing Wanderlei Silva to make good on his promises.

After the jump: A video of Gustafsson wrecking Jared Hamman in his UFC debut, because something good needs to come out of this news.


(If you ask us, it looks like someone is just ducking Kimbo. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting. ) 

Put the rumors, hearsay, and outright troll jobs to rest; Alexander Gustafsson will not be fighting Gegard Mousasi this Saturday at UFC on FUEL 9. The Swede, who received a cut in training a few days back, was scheduled to undergo a second pre-fight exam earlier today to determine whether or not he would be cleared to face Mousasi. And unfortunately, the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation just passed along the news (via MMAFighting) that Gustafsson’s cut was simply too severe to allow him to fight on the 6th:

The SMMAF Medical Committee has today reviewed the circumstances regarding Gustafsson and his injury. The SMMAF Medical Committee recognizes that a competitor cannot be medically cleared earlier than the day before the match. However, bearing in mind that a correct medical examination that met the regulatory demands has been performed, nothing in the SMMAF regulations hinders the SMMAF Medical Committee from making a decision to stop Gustafsson from competing. As it is clear that Alexander Gustafsson will not be fit to compete as planned and cannot be medically cleared on Friday the 5th of April, the SMMAF Medical Committee has today decided that Alexander Gustafsson will not be allowed to participate in the planned match on April 6th. 

It looks like Gustafsson’s future title aspirations will have to be put on hold for the moment.

We will update you as soon as we learn of Gustafsson’s replacement, although Wikipedia has currently pegged none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the man to step up in Gustafsson’s absence. Should be a good scrap, but considering how garbage-ass the rest of the card is, the UFC might also want to consider forcing Wanderlei Silva to make good on his promises.

After the jump: A video of Gustafsson wrecking Jared Hamman in his UFC debut, because something good needs to come out of this news.

–J. Jones

Wanderlei Silva Confirms That Gegard Mousasi Fight Rumor Was an April Fool’s Joke. We Think. It’s Kind of Hard to Tell.


(Wandy’s Trollshades increase his AprilFoolpower by a magnitude of eleventy bazillian. / Photo via Wandy’s FB fan page)

At some point, April Fool’s Day became less about playing elaborate pranks to humiliate your loved ones, and more about just lying to people all day. Nobody puts in the effort anymore. Announcing that your girlfriend/wife is pregnant on Facebook? Yeah, that’s not funny at all. (Side note: @Karmaatemycat gets a pass for doing this yesterday, because the idea of Jefferey Watts as a father is so terrifying that it actually made me hold my face in my hands for about 20 seconds.)

The MMA fighter equivalent of announcing a fake pregnancy is announcing a fake fight or retirement. Tim Kennedy did it. John Alessio did it. Louis Gaudinot did it. The idea is, these statements are believable enough to be true. But in the grand scheme of things, does anybody really give a fuck if John Alessio is coming in to replace Ryan Couture on Saturday? I hate to rag on a guy who we otherwise have so much respect for, but I’m just saying, it’s not a joke, it’s a lie, and making up lies about yourself to trick people is both uncreative and kind of egotistical. As our bro Vince puts it, “Getting me to believe something plausible but untrue is not a ‘prank.’ If that’s a prank, then man have I pranked some women and prospective employers, hoo boy.”

If you make your living on Internet like we do, April Fool’s Day has easily become the worst day of the year. (A close second? April 15th, aka, the Day of Great Reckoning.) Everybody’s a yukster, and you can’t believe a word you read, even if its true. So when Wanderlei Silva announced that the UFC approached him to replace Alexander Gustafsson against Gegard Mousasi on short notice for UFC on FUEL 9, we didn’t know what to think. I mean, we first dismissed it as bullshit — partially on the advice of Dana White himself — but Silva didn’t break character. He kept his story going. And going.

The biggest difference between Wanderlei’s possibly-fake fight announcement and all the others, is that Wandy actually reached out to media. He confirmed his story with MMAWeekly’s Ken Pishna. Then, he gave a rather entertaining interview to Tatame where he had this to say:


(Wandy’s Trollshades increase his AprilFoolpower by a magnitude of eleventy bazillian. / Photo via Wandy’s FB fan page)

At some point, April Fool’s Day became less about playing elaborate pranks to humiliate your loved ones, and more about just lying to people all day. Nobody puts in the effort anymore. Announcing that your girlfriend/wife is pregnant on Facebook? Yeah, that’s not funny at all. (Side note: @Karmaatemycat gets a pass for doing this yesterday, because the idea of Jefferey Watts as a father is so terrifying that it actually made me hold my face in my hands for about 20 seconds.)

The MMA fighter equivalent of announcing a fake pregnancy is announcing a fake fight or retirement. Tim Kennedy did it. John Alessio did it. Louis Gaudinot did it. The idea is, these statements are believable enough to be true. But in the grand scheme of things, does anybody really give a fuck if John Alessio is coming in to replace Ryan Couture on Saturday? I hate to rag on a guy who we otherwise have so much respect for, but I’m just saying, it’s not a joke, it’s a lie, and making up lies about yourself to trick people is both uncreative and kind of egotistical. As our bro Vince puts it, “Getting me to believe something plausible but untrue is not a ‘prank.’ If that’s a prank, then man have I pranked some women and prospective employers, hoo boy.”

If you make your living on Internet like we do, April Fool’s Day has easily become the worst day of the year. (A close second? April 15th, aka, the Day of Great Reckoning.) Everybody’s a yukster, and you can’t believe a word you read, even if its true. So when Wanderlei Silva announced that the UFC approached him to replace Alexander Gustafsson against Gegard Mousasi on short notice for UFC on FUEL 9, we didn’t know what to think. I mean, we first dismissed it as bullshit — partially on the advice of Dana White himself — but Silva didn’t break character. He kept his story going. And going.

The biggest difference between Wanderlei’s possibly-fake fight announcement and all the others, is that Wandy actually reached out to media. He confirmed his story with MMAWeekly’s Ken Pishna. Then, he gave a rather entertaining interview to Tatame where he had this to say:

“I was surprised when I got a call from Joe Silva today, but what others see as adversity I see as opportunity. I’m ready and I’m actually closing my suitcase right now. My flight to Sweden departs tomorrow morning. I’m going to my gym tonight to hit some pads and tomorrow I’ll fly out to Sweden. I’m bringing Rafael Cordeiro, and maybe Fabrício Werdum with me. You know it was in the last minute.”

“I’m weighting 222,6 pounds and I’m already losing weight. I’ll work out tonight, but it will be easy to get down to 205. I’ve been doing this for the last 20 years, I’m used to it. I’m bumped, and don’t worry guys because this is not an April 1st fool. You can celebrate because daddy is in the house again.” [Ed. note: Awesome.]

“There are some crazy things that just Silva does. My last fight against (Brian) Stann was pretty tough, but I did very well. Can you imagine if I do it again? They will give me a crown down there. I have nothing to lose. Mousasi is a tough guy, he is great, and is the perfect profile for me. I don’t run away from good fights and I know that I’ll test myself to the extreme.”

For his part, Gegard Mousasi has been patient through this entire ordeal, operating under the assumption that he’s still fighting Gustafsson unless there’s an official announcement otherwise. On his charmingly unpolished twitter page, Mousasi responded to the Axe Murderer rumors yesterday evening: “hey mr Silva, if this is true and you are ready to fight me than I accept the fight, It’s an honor for me Much respect for you…at this moment I do not have any new info about my situation But if ufc want’s and mr @wandfc is ready for me than let’s Go!”

Alright, so here’s what Wanderlei posted on Instagram at about 9:50 a.m. ET today: “I catch you wand the best April first ever!! But I would like this to be true!!!”

You catch me? No, Wandy. You lied all day, and when the clock struck midnight and it wasn’t April Fool’s Day anymore, you kept lying, and after you had your morning acai smoothie today, you figured, hey, why not let the fans down easy with a silly photo?

DO YOU SEE ME SMILING? DO YOU SEE MOUSASI SMILING? GEGARD JUST AWARDED YOU IDIOOT OF THE YEAR 2013, JACKASS.

Ugh. Can we get rid of this stupid goddamned day already? CagePotato Ban: April Fool’s Day. There. Done.

(BG)

Alexander Gustafsson Suffers Facial Cut in Training, UFC on FUEL 9 Headliner in Jeopardy


(Well, technically it *was* a training injury. Alexander was trying to train his dog to dance in a circle, and the dog clawed the shit out of his face. / Photo via AlexTheMauler)

As first reported yesterday by the Swedish news outlet SVT, UFC light-heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson suffered a gash in his eyebrow while sparring, which could lead to the cancellation of his UFC on FUEL 9 headlining bout against Gegard Mousasi this coming Saturday. A follow-up report from MMAnytt confirmed with the Swedish MMA Association that it will take several weeks before the injury heals up, and that Gustafsson won’t be medically approved for the fight “with 99% certainty.”

If Gustafsson indeed has to withdraw from his UFC on FUEL 9 match on short notice, it would be devastating, both for the event — which was being carried to a large extent by Gustafsson — and for Alexander himself, who was likely just one more impressive performance away from clinching a light-heavyweight title shot.

However, the fight hasn’t been formally canceled yet. As UFC president Dana White explained in a text message to Ariel Helwani, “The [Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation] has not said he can’t fight, and he wants to fight.”

We’ll update you if anything changes. In the meantime, you can bet that the UFC is turning over every rock to find a big-name backup opponent for Mousasi, because if the main event is switched to Ross Pearson vs. Ryan Couture at the last minute, you really couldn’t blame the Swedes for rioting.


(Well, technically it *was* a training injury. Alexander was trying to train his dog to dance in a circle, and the dog clawed the shit out of his face. / Photo via AlexTheMauler)

As first reported yesterday by the Swedish news outlet SVT, UFC light-heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson suffered a gash in his eyebrow while sparring, which could lead to the cancellation of his UFC on FUEL 9 headlining bout against Gegard Mousasi this coming Saturday. A follow-up report from MMAnytt confirmed with the Swedish MMA Association that it will take several weeks before the injury heals up, and that Gustafsson won’t be medically approved for the fight “with 99% certainty.”

If Gustafsson indeed has to withdraw from his UFC on FUEL 9 match on short notice, it would be devastating, both for the event — which was being carried to a large extent by Gustafsson — and for Alexander himself, who was likely just one more impressive performance away from clinching a light-heavyweight title shot.

However, the fight hasn’t been formally canceled yet. As UFC president Dana White explained in a text message to Ariel Helwani, “The [Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation] has not said he can’t fight, and he wants to fight.”

We’ll update you if anything changes. In the meantime, you can bet that the UFC is turning over every rock to find a big-name backup opponent for Mousasi, because if the main event is switched to Ross Pearson vs. Ryan Couture at the last minute, you really couldn’t blame the Swedes for rioting.

Alexander Gustafsson to Receive Title Shot With Win Over Gegard Mousasi; Henderson/Machida Remain on UFC’s Pay-No-Mind List


(“I would consider it an honor to fight a great champion like Chael Sonnen. LOL, just kidding.” Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

Not that reports like this are ever worth a damn, but in accordance with the current mood of UFC President Dana White, Swedish light-heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson will receive a title shot if he can beat Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 9, April 6th in Stockholm.

“If Mousasi beats Gustafsson, he skyrockets right to the top of that division,” White said today in London. “And as far as Gustafsson goes, if he beats Mousasi in that fight, he’s in line for a title shot. This is a big fight for both of those guys.”

This, of course, is an old trick — pumping up a non-title-fight main event by declaring that it has title fight “implications.” But the UFC could very likely stick to their word this time, if for no other reason than to further punish Dan Henderson for his role in sinking UFC 151 and Lyoto Machida for refusing a title shot at UFC 152. Those two poor saps will be playing second-fiddle to a couple of broads in ten days at UFC 157.

Gustafsson has won his last six fights, which ties him for #4 on the list of longest current UFC win streaks. Would a seventh win against Mousasi convince you that he’d be a threat to Bones?


(“I would consider it an honor to fight a great champion like Chael Sonnen. LOL, just kidding.” Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

Not that reports like this are ever worth a damn, but in accordance with the current mood of UFC President Dana White, Swedish light-heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson will receive a title shot if he can beat Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 9, April 6th in Stockholm.

“If Mousasi beats Gustafsson, he skyrockets right to the top of that division,” White said today in London. “And as far as Gustafsson goes, if he beats Mousasi in that fight, he’s in line for a title shot. This is a big fight for both of those guys.”

This, of course, is an old trick — pumping up a non-title-fight main event by declaring that it has title fight “implications.” But the UFC could very likely stick to their word this time, if for no other reason than to further punish Dan Henderson for his role in sinking UFC 151 and Lyoto Machida for refusing a title shot at UFC 152. Those two poor saps will be playing second-fiddle to a couple of broads in ten days at UFC 157.

Gustafsson has won his last six fights, which ties him for #4 on the list of longest current UFC win streaks. Would a seventh win against Mousasi convince you that he’d be a threat to Bones?

Alexander Gustafsson to Welcome Gegard Mousasi to UFC in April


(Let’s get this man some new gloves)

Swedish sensation Alexander Gustafsson is going to put his six fight win streak and legit claim to #1 contender-ship in the light heavyweight division on the line against Gegard Mousasi April 6. The UFC just announced that the pair will headline UFC on FUEL TV 9 this spring.

Mousasi last lost in 2010 against Muhammed Lawal and is coming off of a submission win over Mike Kyle at the final Strikeforce event. Gustafsson won a decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in December.

If it wasn’t for his young age and the long line of people talking themselves into title shots against champion Jon Jones and the huge mess that has ensued, Gustafsson would likely already be considered worthy of challenging “Bones.” As it stands, Gustafsson has to keep on fighting and winning to earn his shot.


(Let’s get this man some new gloves)

Swedish sensation Alexander Gustafsson is going to put his six fight win streak and legit claim to #1 contender-ship in the light heavyweight division on the line against Gegard Mousasi April 6. The UFC just announced that the pair will headline UFC on FUEL TV 9 this spring.

Mousasi last lost in 2010 against Muhammed Lawal and is coming off of a submission win over Mike Kyle at the final Strikeforce event. Gustafsson won a decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in December.

If it wasn’t for his young age and the long line of people talking themselves into title shots against champion Jon Jones and the huge mess that has ensued, Gustafsson would likely already be considered worthy of challenging “Bones.” As it stands, Gustafsson has to keep on fighting and winning to earn his shot.

Mousasi is more of a hardcore fan cult favorite than household name – despite his impressive resume and skill set – so Gustafsson is taking a big risk in fighting the Dutchman. For Mousasi, this is a golden opportunity to leapfrog ahead of the entire UFC roster of light heavyweights and lay claim to a title shot should he beat Gustafsson.

Given that he’s said in the past that he’s suffered from lack of motivation, Mousasi is likely relishing the stakes in this bout for his career. Who do you got, nation?

– Elias Cepeda