Last September at UFC 165 in Toronto, Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson put on a light heavyweight title bout for the ages, as the two young fighters went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes in the 2014 Fight of the Year. Although Jones was awarded the decision by the judges at the end of the full five rounds, there’s no doubt Gustafsson was the star of the night. The young Swede gave the dominant champ everything he could handle, emerging as new star for the UFC even despite the loss.
And yet, despite the interest in Gustafsson never being higher, the UFC completely dropped the ball with him. Not only did the 27-year-old not get a rematch with Jones, but his next fight isn’t even on pay-per-view. It’s not even on Fox, Fox Sports 1, or even on Fox Sports 2 for that matter. It’s on the digital-only UFC Fight Pass, and to me, the UFC is blowing an opportunity to not just further Gustafsson’s starpower, but to create a full-blown superstar.
I know the UFC needed a main event for the UFC Fight Night 37 card, but why did it have to be Gustafsson? Yes, he’s from Sweden and Sweden is in Europe. But Sweden isn’t England, and the card this weekend on Fight Pass is in England. There were other options for the UFC to choose from, but for whatever reason, the powers that be felt that they absolutely had to put Gustafsson on Fight Pass. And I think it’s a waste.
Look, I’m an MMA nerd, and you bet I’m taking my Saturday afternoon off to watch the Gustafsson vs. Jimi Manuwa fight on Fight Pass. But does that mean my casual MMA fan friends will join me? Probably not. While they’ll come over for the occasional UFC PPV on a Saturday night – when it seems like a big deal, and for the non-MMA nerd, an acceptable way to spend Saturday night – they probably won’t do that for a Saturday afternoon card on an internet stream.
What the UFC really should have done was have Gustafsson fight in the co-main event of Jones’ next PPV card, UFC 172 in April. That way, if he won, there’d be no doubt that he’d be the #1 contender, and no one would try to argue it. But now, because Phil Davis vs. Anthony Johnson is the co-main event of Jones’ card, the winner of that fight – with an impressive performance – could steal Gustafsson’s thunder, even if he goes out and destroys Manuwa this weekend. And that’s not fair to Gustafsson, because he’s done nothing but be a good company man and do what the UFC tells him to do.
But the fans will decide for themselves who they want to see fight for the title. That’s why we’ve seen fighters like Nick Diaz and Chael Sonnen getting title shots coming off losses – because the fans will pay to see them fight. But since Gustafsson is competing on Fight Pass, not many people are going to see him fight. And since more people saw Daniel Cormier fight, and presumably more people will see Davis and Johnson, those fighters have better opportunities to get the fans behind them and push past Gustafsson into title shots, especially since MMA fans’ memories are so short.
I’ll be watching UFC Fight Night 37 this weekend, but I know a lot of others won’t be. And just like last week’s KO by Dong Hyun Kim in the main event of the TUF China Finale, Gustafsson’s performance is likely to fly under the radar and not give the fighter the well-deserved boost in star power that he’d have received if his fight were staged on a bigger platform. And that’s a shame.
• Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jimi Manuwa
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UFC Fight Night 37: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa is due to take place on March 8, 2014 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 37 will be.
I think you overstate Machida's place in history. Even if he wins, his career will still lack quite a bit from being considered with Fedor, GSP, or Anderson until he can defend the belt a few times. The depth that MW has historically lacked but recently produced will help but he definitely needs more wins, preferably entertaining ones.
And even with JDS/Stipe as a co-main, I'm still MUCH more pumped for FN 40.