Gustafssson: I am waiting for title shot. White: Probably not

When Alexander Gustafsson heard that Jon Jones had hurt his knee, the first thing he did was publicly declare that he should replace Cormier against Jones. His reasoning was that since he was originally scheduled to fight Jones and suffered a knee injury of his own, he should be back in there.

“I just heard the news that Jones is injured and the fight is rescheduled to January 3,” wrote Gustafsson on his social network. “Until then, I will be more than ready, it was MY fight to begin with and I WANT the fight as the number 1 contender. End of story!”

ZUFFA CEO Lorenzo Fertitta quickly reassured Cormier that the fight with Jones would go on as planned.

Then Gustafsson’s manager, Manos Terzitane, said if his client doesn’t get a title shot, he will wait for one.

“He will do whatever he can to not get passed by,” said Terzitane on UFC Tonight. “He will not accept any other fight than to be the next in line for the title against Jones.”

However, UFC president Dana White is back from a vacation in Bora Bora, and it looks like the organization has other plans for “The Mauler.”

“Gustafsson is upset, but it’s not like we took Gustafsson out of the fight. Gustafsson got hurt and he’s out,” said White to UFC.com’s The Dowload. “Cormier stepped in and accepted the fight and this is the fight that is going to happen now.”

“Gustafsson will probably fight again. We’ll probably do another fight for him. He’ll probably fight again to stay active, stay top of mind and the guy has to make money.”

White said that the fight that would make the most sense for Gustafsson is Anthony Johnson. “Rumble” was released by the UFC following a series of failures to make his contracted weight and a loss to Vitor Belfort in 2012. Johnson said the firing forced him to mature. The fighter who had been at 170 has now won eight in a row, at 205 and even heavyweight, where he beat Andrei Arlovski.

“All he has to do is keep knocking people out, man,” said White. “He doesn’t need to be outspoken. He’s been an absolute professional since he’s been back. He’s a completely different person, and it’s just so amazing to see a guy who used to fight at welterweight move up to 205 and knock out the best 205-pounders in the world.”

Now Gustafsson’s coach Andreas Michael argues with greater detail that Gustafsson has earned the title fight, and that Cormier has not.

We are not happy, Michael told John Joe O’Regan for Sherdog. Alex is the number one contender; he got injured and UFC went to Plan B. Now if that fight is not happening, of course Alex and Jones should be right back. That is the fight we want and the fans want. Everyone wants that fight because the previous fight was one of the best fights ever. Alex deserves the fight. Who has ‘DC’ fought? Has he earned a title fight? Who has he beat in the light heavy division?

Just because they fought at a press conference, that doesn’t mean a lot. Alex and Jones is what the people want to see. Jones will beat ‘DC’ easily, if he cannot take Jones down, which he will not. Jones’ striking and reach will give ‘DC’ serious problems. I think ‘DC’ is a great athlete and so is Jones. It’s a great fight for the winner of the Alex-Jones rematch, but not before that. Let ‘DC’ fight Anthony Johnson or somebody else of caliber.

You should earn your way to the top, you know? These days, it seems just anyone can get a title shot. Earning your ranking in your division, doesn’t that mean anything? Beating the top guys to earn a title shot, doesn’t that mean anything?

It is not right that Alex doesn’t get the January slot against Jones. That fight would make more pay-per-view buys and also make more sense. That fight is already a proven success. Just look at their first war.

What do you think UG? Does the UFC owe it to Gustafsson to let him wait for the title shot? Does the UFC owe it’s fans, and its bottom line, and Gustafsson’s bottom line that he fight sooner, probably vs. “Rumble”?