The light heavyweight rivalry between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson has finally come to an end as Jones finished Alexander Gustafsson in the third round to claim the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight championship at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
The rematch was nothing like the first fight, as this time Jones completely mauled Gustafsson and finished him. Jones set the pace in the opening round, as he hit Gustafsson with brutal leg kicks and cracked him with sharp hands any time Gustafsson tried to close the distance.
The second round was a bit better for Gustafsson, he pocked Jones but ultimate Jones rallied back to win the rounds in the closing seconds. The third was completely one-sided, as he mounted himself on top of Gustafsson to ultimately knock him out.
Following the fight, Gustafsson arrived at the post-event news conference and said that he had suffered a groin injury early in the fight that affected his performance.
“He got me very, very early in the first round,” Gustafsson told reporters. “Very early. After that, I just shut down. I wasn’t tired, I had my conditioning. I felt good. We had our exchanges and everything. He just shut me down very early in the first round and I couldn’t move at all. I told my corner that too and all that. He did what he was supposed to do and made sure he won the fight.”
He also didn’t dismiss the idea of fighting in the Heavyweight division and said to the media that he will work his way back to the UFC Gold.
“It’s not over yet,” Gustafsson said. “Let’s see what’s next. Like always, you do this for a reason. That is to compete with the best guys out there, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll do it as long as it’s fun.”
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