Gustafsson: Jon Jones is not a good person, no champion in my eyes

Top UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson used to not be a good person. He was, in fact, a soccer hooligan. However, he reformed himself through mixed martial arts and is by all accounts a reasonable, well liked, and caring person. However, at the UFC Fight Night 109 post-fight press conference he spoke bluntly about former division champion Jon Jones.

[Jones] is the biggest enemy, said The Mauler, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco and John Morgan for MMAjunkie. I don’t like him. I give him that he’s the best fighter of all time. He’s the pound-for-pound in our division. Everybody knows he hasn’t lost yet. He demolishes everyone he fights.

But as a person, as a champion, he’s not a champion in my eyes. He’s not a good person in my eyes. I always tell the guys, I hope ‘DC’ wins, because I like the guy. He’s a worthy champion.

Division champion Daniel Cormier and Jones are scheduled to fight at UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, California. A call came in during the press conference, and Gustafsson was asked if it was UFC president offering him the winner of Cormier vs. Jones.

I won’t tell you, said a smiling Gustafsson.

One guy Gus won’t fight is Jimmi Manuwa, who is tabbed to step in should either Jones or Cormier fall out. Gustafsson holds a win over Manuwa in 2014.

First of all, my friend, I’ll never fight Jimi Manuwa, said Gustafsson. We’re good friends; we’re good training partners. We develop each other in training. We do this together.

We just have to communicate, see who wins the sparring. Nah, just joking. We’ll see what happens. We do this together.

Gustafsson is now on a two-fight win streak. Prior to that he lost a title fight with Cormier, and was knocked out my the now retired Anthony Johnson.

I just learned from that [Johnson loss], he said. It wasn’t my night. I don’t blame anything. Anthony Johnson is a knockout artist. I was just too slow. I was a slow starter that night; it wasn’t my night at all.

I have to be first. I have to be there. It’s tough competition. You can’t just wait for them to start. You can’t take a punch and then start working – that punch could be the punch that will end your night. You have to be there and be first. That’s what I learned from that night.

It’s all about the last rounds. I’ve been so close to winning the fights, I lose a little bit at the end. I’m not going to lose on the finish line again. It’s not going to happen. Tonight I could have gone 10 rounds. I could go 10 rounds next time I fight ‘DC’ or Jones.