From A-Z: Alexander Gustafsson: The Fighting Viking
I have always had a fascination with the Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. The first fight I remember him in was the first Jones fight. I had just finished a class of jiu-jitsu and a few older gym mates were going to downtown to watch the fight. At the time, I barely followed the UFC and was mostly concerned with the application of the Hajime No Ippo head movement into a takedown (it was ineffective and weird). Being sixteen at the time, I remember later watching the fight on YouTube and being amazed at the smooth punching of “The Mauler”.
My gym mates would later recount the fight as amazing and remarked at how far Gustafsson was able to push Jones; remarking that had there been a more significant strike, Gustafsson would be the champion. I think that summarizes Gustafsson’s entire career in that remark. Close, but just not enough.
Last Saturday on June 1st, 2019, Alexander Gustafsson would announce his retirement, following a flaccid defeat to Anthony Smith. In this article, I want to commemorate Gustafsson’s career and consider, what he could have been. Follow with me on this journey as I highlight his highest of highs and the lowest of lows, following Gustafsson from A-Z.
Hot Swedish fire
Making his professional debut in 2007, Alexander Gustafsson would quickly blast his way through to the UFC, debuting in 2009 against Jared Hamman. Up until this point, Gustafsson had proven himself to be a finisher having only gone to a decision once in eight fights.
The Hamman fight started off quick and both men swung at each other with rapid hooks. It was clear that Hamman wanted to catch the newcomer out cold and try to bring the pressure to the taller and rangier Gustafsson.
But after an eye poke by Gustafsson, Hamman would be floored by a straight right hand and pounded unconscious by “The Mauler”.
Gustafsson looked promising, showing that he had power in his hands and incredible speed for two hundred and five pounder. In his next fight, he would compete against Phil Davis, a future teammate of his but also the first man to hand him a loss.
Davis came out immediately looking to take Gustafsson down, being that Davis was an accomplished wrestler and wanted nothing to do with Gustafsson’s fast Swedish knuckles. However, he would come to find that Gustafsson showed great takedown defense, which amazed everyone.
Gustafsson would even try to take Davis down, surprising everyone. However, it also showed that Gustafsson was too fresh and had not considered that he may have been overmatched. This over-eagerness would cost him as later in the first round, he would be submitted; handed his first loss in his professional career.
While Gustafsson showed promise, he was for all intents and purposes an upcoming prospect who needed to build up his experience grappling and striking.
Work in progress
For his next few fights after Davis, Gustafsson continued to show his remarkable takedown defense and would come to show his offensive wrestling and top game to be quite remarkable. While most people even after his retirement would downplay his wrestling, it was always interesting to see him take down even the most accomplished wrestlers.
His next couple of fights were against Diabate and Te Huna. In both fights, we got to see an aggressive Gustafsson. Once again like the Hammon fight Gustafsson came out aggressive against Diabate and throwing his right hand. In this fight and subsequent fights, Gustafsson was shown to be a right-hand centric fighter, with his left hand as an after note.
Gustafsson was toted as the skilled boxer, however, all I saw was him leading with his face and leaving his stance in order to force his right hand. But in the fight against Diabate, Gustafsson proved that that was all he needed. We also got to witness his favourite punch, the right uppercut which floored Diabate.
Another problem with Gustafsson was his footwork, he seemed to have graceful feet when he was not in danger of being hit or attempting to throw strikes. However, when Gustafsson was forced to move away, it was either straight backward head straight up or stand still and get punished.
However, Gustafsson was able to make improvements in his ground game, which resembles the same techniques he used until his retirement. Gustafsson loves taking his opponents down into half guard or side control, looking to smash his opponents with punches and elbows.
While Gustafsson would find success with his ground and pound, he often lacked the top control that successful wrestlers would have, forcing him to constantly have to deal with his opponent standing up. Another issue that Gustafsson would bring to the table was his overeagerness in takedowns. Often chasing for poor takedowns he would not get punished for it, until later in his career but Diabate, Te-Huna, and Hamill would not possess that skill.
However, he would still be able to out-athlete his opponents preferring his awkward slams.
Takedowns like these would lead to submission wins by Gustafsson. In his next few fights, Gustafsson would come to show examples of potential greatness, but also display examples of poor decision making.
Dancing Swede
In his fight against Matt Hamill, Gustafsson came out with improved footwork and plenty of circular movement. Whether this movement was designed to avoid takedowns or for offense was irrelevant. What was important was that Gustafsson was able to make use of his height and reach, by circling the cage.
Doing this force Hamill to start to come to Gustafsson, and it gave the space for Gustafsson to register if the attack was either a strike or a takedown. Gustafsson was able to show feints to disguise his attacks and to also give himself time to think about his next combination.
However, against Hamill, it also showed that Gustafsson did not have offensive head movement, and his head stood in the same place when he chose to strike. This gave Hamill the opportunity to time his strikes, knowing that Gustafsson’s head would be in the same place.
For the most part, this was Gustafsson’s game. Lots of circular movement, poor head movement, and guard. But he was able to “maul” people when he took them down and land pot shots into running combinations. Gustafsson would also find his favourite and most ridiculous strike: which was the wide right uppercut. Coupling it with some nice jabs or hooks he often will run into his opponents with it, or try to intercept them with it. It is ugly, does not use his height to his advantage, but it somehow works.
Gustafsson would find great success against Thiago Santos, showing all of these techniques with incredible speed. But against Shogun the fight right after he would also consistently throw poorly timed knees. Like his uppercuts, they either landed with emphatic success, or looked awkward and foolish.
Whether it was a habit for Gustafsson to run into takedowns, knees, or uppercuts or it was a tactic, it was surely strange and relied heavily on Gustafsson’s height and durability of his chin. Either way, Gustafsson was able to squeak out a close decision and a disappointing one as people expected him to blow through Shogun as Jones did. However, Gustafsson would later prove that sometimes a good fight can come from an underwhelming prospect.
The Fighting Viking
When Alexander Gustafsson took on Jon Jones in Toronto on September 21st, 2013, no one expected much from the Swede. He had struggled with Shogun, and battered lesser opponents. The only fighter that Gustafsson had fought with name-value, was Phil Davis and he got submitted by him. However, the height and length that Gustafsson brought at six foot, five inches was an interesting matchup to the champion Jones who stood at six foot, four inches.
Both were giants and both were used to dealing with fighters of smaller stature. However, Jones was the heavily favoured champion, the pound-for-pound great, how could Gustafsson come to match him? The answer was in his feet.
Gustafsson stopped using his hopping footwork and worked into efficient and nuanced steps, working to circle to Jones’ right if he was southpaw or to the left when Jones was orthodox.
The purpose of this movement did many things: It removed the threat of the takedown, denied Jones the angle for his oblique kick, and allowed for a new angle of attack. All of these would allow Gustafsson to confuse and cause chaos in the champion’s mind.
However, Jones was a class apart from the rest of the division. The first couple of rounds were a struggle for Jones in that he could not land all the tools in his arsenal, nor could he get his vaunted takedowns. Instead, he focused on getting his range through his oblique kick, low kick, and round kick to either the head or the body.
Jones was willing to absorb damage during the early rounds if it meant figuring out the distance and timing of Gustafsson. Gustafsson however never worked to adapt or capitalize on Jones’ mistakes.
The simple fact in both fights between the two is that Jones is a thinking man’s fighter, not saying that Gustafsson doesn’t think. But Jones has been known to watch endless hours of tape about his opponent, he enjoys thinking. Therefore, for Jones to make critical changes to a problem during a fight comes naturally.
Gustafsson was able to put on a boxing clinic on Jones, hooking off the jab, working the head and body in combination gave Jones incredible trouble. Jones is not much of a pocket boxer nor a particularly gifted boxer. However, Jones was always gifted with incredible athleticism and fight IQ.
Jones adapted by making more space for his kicks, he realized he could not contend with the Swede in boxing, so he increased the distance to give himself time and space to throw his kicks. The body kick worked wonderfully to prevent Gustafsson from slipping punches, and the single collar tie to knee prevent Gustafsson’s ducking.
Jones would start to add the elbow if Gustafsson would rush him, making Gustafsson reconsider every thought of charging in with hard punches.
Jones was able to badly hurt Gustfasson later in the fourth round and after that Gustfasson was spent. The exhaustion from the constant pecking kicks and Gustafsson’s own need to constantly move exhausted the Swede and he begged for air. The fifth round was probably the round that Gustafsson needed to win badly, however, he could not martial the same vigor as he did prior.
Gustafsson would lose the decision but he cemented in everyone’s mind that he was the second best in the world and he was able to reverse everyone’s opinion on him.
The Rumble in Sweden
After the Jon Jones loss, Gustafsson returned to finish Jimi Manuwa in emphatic fashion, by stopping him with a knee to the jaw. The fight was a typical affair for Gustafsson, Manuwa did not have the herding ability of Jones, neither the ring craft to cut Gustafsson off from moving.
However, this fight showed that Gustafsson still had the aggressive edge of his youth and the fire that carried him into the Manuwa fight was clear. He wanted the title.
The UFC was more than happy to oblige, given that they needed a European star and Gustafsson was the perfect fighter to give them that push. So, the UFC give Gustafsson Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, in Stockholm. The perfect fight for Gustafsson to get his name back into title contention, in his hometown and the main event. However, there was a rumble in the wind and Rumble would come to change Gustafsson’s career.
Rumble was always the hardest hitting fighter in the room, he looked terrifying nearly murdering Nogueria and battering Phil Davis into a panic. Rumble was on his way up and it was up to Gustafsson to show that his quick and slick boxing could outmaneuver the dynamite fisted American.
Right from the beginning, Rumble followed and cut off the cage from Gustafsson, looking to throwing his booming right hand. Rightfully so, Gustafsson was worried.
After an eye poke, Gustafsson made a mistake. Against normal opponents, Gustafsson would not be punished too badly, maybe a hard right hand, maybe a slapping hook. However, against Rumble, Gustafsson threw a lazy kick and got caught by his own momentum and carried himself into Johnson’s forehead.
In an instant Rumble smelt blood, and he was ready to feast. Chasing Gustafsson down, he eventually brought him to the ground.
After what felt like hours of endless punches, Gustafsson was stopped. The arena fell silent. Alexander Gustafsson just suffered the worse loss of his life, in front of his hometown crowd. It was this loss that I felt Gustafsson was never truly the same fighter.
Gustafsson & the Olympian
After his loss to Johnson, Gustafsson was granted the chance opportunity to fight for the title again. Jon Jones had begun his downward spiral and Daniel Cormier had submitted Johnson for the vacant title. Gustafsson once again was looked down on, is that his last fight was the loss to Rumble. However, once again Gustafsson would rise to the occasion after a disappointing fight.
Cormier was looking to come forwards at Gustfasson, it was no secret that Cormier wanted to wrestle and if he got his hands on Gustafsson, it would be a hard night for the Swede. Gustafsson came out in this fight looking lighter and softer on his feet. However, poor cage work would get him flipped and thrown onto his back for the entirety of the first round.
It was clear that Gustafsson was going to have a very hard night. Cormier like many opponents had come to find that catching Gustafsson out cold like Rumble was going to be difficult. However, going to Gustafsson’s legs would be a good strategy in order to slow him down.
Another addition to Gustafsson's footwork was his new desire to sprint away from his opponent. Face forward and in full sprint, Gustafsson would sprint away from DC in order to run to the center of the cage and give himself the space to throw back.
However, he also began to kick far more and with far more power than he did in any other fight.
I had always argued for Gustafsson to throw more kicks. He is incredibly long and throwing kicks would allow him to step in with his punches and keep the shorter man away from him.
But what made me so excited for Gustafsson, was his desire to throw while moving backward. Gustafsson has always either been offense or defense, neither was interchangeable. Therefore, it was a pleasure to see the boxer actually box going backward, in order to hurt the champion.
Prior to this point, Gustafsson would swing wild punches if he were ever in this position, or just take the shots to his face. But what truly cost Gustafsson the fight was his bad habit or ducking. Whenever DC would look to single collar tie and drill in uppercuts, Gustafsson would either tie up his striking hand or duck out and run. Neither of these would prove superbly effective and cost Gustafsson his stamina.
This like many Gustafsson fights showed that whenever Gustafsson would get tied up, he would duck his head forwards. Against Cormier, it was uppercuts, against Jones it was knees to his face. Regardless Gustafsson never made an effort to push DC’s head away from him, thus creating the distance to avoid the uppercut and retreat.
Gustafsson was able to take DC down multiple times (an amazing feat), and he was able to knock DC down with a knee to the chin. His overly evasive footwork cost him his stamina and the short uppercuts from Cormier wore him down. Gustafsson would eventually lose a split decision to Cormier. While he looked better in certain areas of his game, he no longer looked like he wanted to engage his opponents in any position. Rather, he wanted to attack purely from his range when he wanted to. The Rumble loss seemed to have made him more risk-averse, gone was the day of standing in boxing range in order to land efficient strikes.
Gustafsson had changed.
One last time
After the Cormier loss, Gustafsson would fight almost a year later against Jan Blachowicz. Gustafsson would struggle to deal with Blachowicz’s tight boxing and would rely on his takedowns to earn a decision win. It was a disappointing performance once again by Gustafsson, his habit of keeping his head straight up and hands down got him caught by the tighter combinations.
Regardless, Gustafsson would as risk-averse as he did in the DC fight. He no longer stood in his posture forward boxing stance, where he could make efficient head movements and throw powerful punches. Rather he hung back, looking to jab and throw ugly counters while getting smacked in the face.
After the Blachowicz fight, Gustafsson would take almost another year to fight citing injuries. He would headline a card in Stockholm once again, this time against the aged Brazilian Glover Teixeria. Teixeria was a one-time title challenger and was smashed by Jones. He possessed incredible power, but it came purely from recycling hooks with his head leaning forwards.
Added to the fact, that Glover cannot cut the cage off and it was a matchup made in heaven for Gustafsson. He could snipe Glover from a distance and simply run away if Glover got too close. Gustafsson could throw his South to North Pole uppercut from comfort and he would do exactly that. This was not the overly aggressive Gustafsson of his early career, nor the measured slick boxer against Jones. Rather it was safety first Gustafsson and it was the final great performance of Gustafsson’s career.
Gustafsson wasn’t crafty in this fight, but everything he did well would come to hurt Glover, so he never changed. After several brutal knockdowns, Gustafsson would finally knock the Brazilian out and it was a victory shared for the next coming weeks.
However, this would be last great fight of his career and Gustafsson would never reach the same technical swiftness of his first Jones fight.
The end of the Viking
After the Glover win, Gustafsson would take another year off due to injuries. His body had become battered through years of wear and tear. However, he would come once again to fight his arch-nemesis, Jon Jones. Jones had finished serving out his multiple infractions with the law and drug testing and was looking to be the legitimate threat he once was.
Gustafsson insisted he was the same fighter and he would bring the same fight to Jones and he did before. However, that would never be the case. Jones had learned from their last fight and continued their fight from the last round, maintaining a long distance and throwing more kicks.
Gustafsson no longer had the efficient boxing, would only throw pecking kicks at Jones, never truly committing to a big play. This would be a staple of his last two fights as in both the Jones and Smith fights, Gustafsson could no longer bring forth his speed and sought to make light shots with kicks. Gustafsson no longer had the circular movement, he did not have the sprinting able of his earlier career either. So he was stuck plodding forwards and getting picked off by Jones.
After a couple of rounds, Jones would take Gustafsson down and Gustafsson would get stuck underneath him and get pounded out. It was a disappointing fight from Gustafsson as he did not come in with the same aggressiveness as the first Jones fight.
After taking another extended break, Gustafsson would fight Anthony Smith, in a fight where he would retire as well. It was more or less the same thing in the Jones fight that caused trouble for Gustafsson. He was timider and did not have the same speed that could bring him into the fight. In all intents and purposes, Alexander Gustafsson retired after the Glover fight.
The Smith fight would end in submission and it was a flaccid disappointing end to “The Mauler”. However, Gustafsson chose to retire early than rather eat another few disappointing losses to upcoming talent.
Conclusion
Alexander Gustafsson was a fighter who started off with fire under his feet. He came to knock out and destroy his opponents. He routinely rose to the occasion but was horribly inconsistent throughout his career. Towards the tail end of his career, he would receive praise for his skills, but it was too little too late.
I will always remember the Cormier fight, as I watched it live. I still have the poster of the event in my bedroom. I will always love rewatching his fights, as Gustafsson truly moved faster than any light heavyweight in his time.
Gustafsson started as an overeager striker but matured into a seasoned professional who stayed in the upper echelon until the end of his career. He will always be remembered for his violence and professionalism. From Jones to DC, Gustafsson has fought the very best.
I am thankful I got to watch his career from A-Z.
