Alexander Gustafsson has signed a new multi-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announcing on Instagram that he “will be fighting very soon.”
The Swedish mixed martial artist also took a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who has publicly stated that he will retire before his 40th birthday in 2019. The details of Gustafsson’s contract were not revealed, but he said that he has secured “the biggest deal” of his career.
The UFC light-heavyweight contender has not fought since May 2017, when he knocked out Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 109. Before that, the 31-year-old Alliance MMA representative defeated Jan Błachowicz at UFC Fight Night 93 by unanimous decision.
Gustafsson has a 10-4 record in the UFC and has won three “Fight of The Night” bonuses. The highlight of Gustafsson’s career are two spectacular and close fights for the UFC light heavyweight title: one against Jon Jones on Sept. 21, 2013 at UFC 165, and the other at UFC 192 when “The Mauler” faced Cormier. Gustafsson lost both these fights by a close margin in fights that went the distance.
With Cormier set to face Stipe Miocic in a superfight for the UFC heavyweight crown at UFC 226 and his comments on facing Brock Lesnar, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Gustafsson compete for a hypothetical light heavyweight interim belt until the actual belt can be defended by Cormier.