Alexander Gustafsson has fallen short twice before against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jones Jones, suffering losses at UFC 165 and UFC 232.
Nima Safapour is Gustafsson’s manager and he believes that Gustafsson will eventually get the job done against Jones.
“The plan is to come back stronger than ever,” Safapour said to MMA Junkie. “The fight was the fight. We still believe 100 percent that Alex can beat Jones. Just depends on the day. Anyone can win depending on the circumstances of the fight. It was not our day, but we will come back and get the title in due time either from Jon or whoever else is holding the title at that time. Expect to see ‘The Mauler’ back in action soon.”
Gustafsson also lost a title shot to then UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier back at UFC 192.
The UFC moved UFC 232 from Las Vegas, Nevada to Inglewood, California due to an abnormality in Jones’ drug test and Safapour still thinks something is up with Jones’ usage of illegal substances.
“We hold the same position about Jones as it relates to the doping controversy,” he said. “Whatever he is doing, it smells terrible. His results were, ‘pulsing,’ in August and September, which means he did not test negative,” he said. “Does that mean he tested positive on those occasions? Those same tests results were not given to the California commission at Jon’s last hearing, nor was it given to California when he failed his test from December. Why are other fighters not having these problems? We are just supposed to believe that Jon is an innocent victim that has the worst luck in MMA history.”
Jones is potentially defending the gold next against Anthony Smith at UFC 235, while Gustafsson doesn’t have a fight booked at the moment.
