Gustafsson’s management refute Cormier claim
“We also offered to fight DC at heavyweight if he was healthy. So Alex was prepared to face anyone, ranked or unranked. But the doctor’s said he was unfit to compete.”
Anthony Smith stepped up on short notice at UFC Fight Night 134, and knocked out ‘Shogun’ Rua in 58 seconds. Then he called out Alexander Gustafsson to fight at UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2 on August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Gustafsson’s management then reported that ‘The Mauler’ was out of UFC 227 with a minor injury. Next, champ champ Daniel Cormier lashed out bitterly, accusing Gus of ducking, calling him ‘entitled’ and ‘delusional’ and said he would never fight him again.
Cormier is the heavyweight champion, and will defend that title vs. Brock Lesnar early in 2019. He is also the light heavyweight champion, and said he wants to defend that belt later this year. Alexander Gustafsson is the #1 contender, but last week Cormier cited Shogun as a possible opponent, should he get by Smith. That didn’t happen. And the champ fighting the # contender is the way it’s supposed to work.
Now Gustafsson’s team has responded, explained that ‘The Mauler’ was pulled from UFC 227 days before the Smith fight. As time runs forward, Gustafsson couldn’t have been ducking.
“Doctors pulled Alex from the card last Friday. Days before Anthony was to compete,” explained Gustafsson’s management in a statement. “Before that we were trying to stay on the card. Assuming we could get cleared, we were prepared to face anyone. We assumed it would be Rountree as he was ready to fight, and we were told Jan [Blachowicz] would fight at another time. We also offered to fight DC at heavyweight if he was healthy. So Alex was prepared to face anyone, ranked or unranked. But the doctor’s said he was unfit to compete.”
H/T MMA Fighting