Alexander Gustafsson is coming off of a dominant win over Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier is defending the gold against former champion Jon Jones in a rematch at UFC 214. If one of the fighters were forced to pull out of the title match this July, the Swedish star would be more than happy to fill in.
During the UFC Fight Night 109 post-fight press conference, the fighter was a little coy about an exchange he had over the phone with UFC President Dana White.
“When they call me,” he said. “I won’t tell you.”
British slugger Jimi Manuwa has already been tabbed as the replacement if either Jones or Cormier got injured. Manuwa is a training partner of Gustafsson and although the two have fought before, it’s highly unlikely that they will fight again.
“Well, first of all, my friend, I’ll never fight Jimi Manuwa,” he told MMA Junkie. “We’re good friends; we’re good training partners. We develop each other in training. We do this together. We just have to communicate, see who wins the sparring. Nah, just joking. We’ll see what happens. We do this together.”
Gustafsson has twice before challenged for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, coming up short against the two men who are headlining UFC 214.
