While the Dana White has not officially set a date, he did state at the post-UFC 172 press conference that Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson, the promotion’s #1 ranked Light Heavyweight, will get a title rematch with divisional kingpin Jon Jones. It didn’t take long for the Swede, appearing on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, to fire off the first proper salvo after the champ’s muted comments of the after-effects of their first bout with FOX Sports.
“He didn’t perform like he used to. He was dominating Glover from the beginning, no doubt about it, But, I don’t know it seemed like he didn’t perform like he used to do. I thought that, I don’t know, he did enough to win the fight basically.”
A sharp opening shot, to be sure, reminiscent of Georges St. Pierre telling Matt Hughes that he “was not impressed” with his performance. But then again, Jon Jones claims he wasn’t all the impressed by his own work as well, as he told FOX Sports on Saturday night.
“I had a lot of questions I needed to answer for myself: Did I lose my mojo? What was going on, fighting Gustafsson in such a close fight?”
Regardless, anything that Jones has said about him, “The Mauler” remembers. Especially the whole deal where “Bones” claimed he only went 80% in their initial UFC Light Heavyweight Title bout. It’s not something that the #1 contender took kindly to.
“If he fought at 80 percent, I would have finished him. I’m a whole new type of fighter now… There’s going to be a finish. A win is a win, but a decision for me is not an option any more.”
The date and location of this much-anticipated rematch have yet to be set in stone, despite Dana White’s assertions he would like to see it happen in Sweden. Stay tuned to MMASucka.com for more on this and other MMA news.
