Gustafsson: It’s just a lot of pain
Losing a fight is never fun, but for Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson his knockout loss to Anthony Johnson was especially hard, as it was in front of 30,000 hometown fans.
Losing a fight is never fun, but for Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson his knockout loss to Anthony Johnson was especially hard, as it was in front of 30,000 hometown fans:
“It’s just a lot of pain,” he said. “I not only lost my fight, I lost my fight in front of 30,000 fans, so that’s a tough thing to deal with, and it still is. But whatever hurts you gets you stronger.”
Gustafsson was more than a 2-to-1 favorite coming in, and was still labeled as the No. 1 contender in the division. He had to clear the one last hurdle in Johnson, however, and he said the game plan was to use his length.
“My game plan was to work every round, tactically, with my distance and my speed,” he said. “But Anthony’s a beast and he came in with his pressure. He did what he had to do. And he did it good.”