Dana White told reporters at the UFC on Fuel 7 media scrum, “If he (Alexander Gustafsson) beats Mousasi, this is a big fight for both of those guys, obviously. If Mousasi beats Gustafsson, he skyrockets right to the top of that division. As far as Gustafsson goes, if he beats Mousasi in that fight, he’s in line for a title shot.” So the real question lies on whether or not people can take what Dana White says, when it comes to title contenders, seriously.
Especially if you were to look at who’s about to fight Jon Jones for the title. Chael Sonnen is coming off a second round TKO loss to UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, and he is the man chosen to be Jon Jones’ next challenger. Sonnen has only won 2 of his last 4 bouts but he was able to craftily talk his way into a title shot in a heavy weight class, against a larger, stronger and possibly more talented champion.
All prior event aside Gustafsson vs Jones is a very interesting match-up. They are similar in build, both coming in at 6’4″ with long arms and legs that seem to give their opponents fits on the feet. They’re both very young, and they both have the same desire to be the best 205 pounder in the world. So there is definitely a reason for fans to want to see this fight alone from Gustafsson’s 6 fight win streak, 7 if he gets through Gegard Mousasi.
With Dana White’s promise of a Gustafsson title shot fans are left wonder what will happen to the Winner of Henderson vs Machida, a fight only a little more than a week out. We were all left to assume the winner of that fight would be the next in line to fight Jon Jones, either Dan Henderson, the man who was supposed to fight Jones back in September, or Lyoto Machida, the guy won the so called “greatest finish” when he knocked out Ryan Bader and was told he was the next in line. What about these to worthy opponents, and whats to happen to them in the LightHeavyweight division after thier fight next Saturday?
If Alexander Gustafsson whats to leave an image of who is to fight for the title next he will have to beat Mousasi and beat him convincingly. Anything short of a finish might take a title shot right out of his hands.