Jon Jones Has Given His Critics a Whole Load of Ammunition to Use Against Him… Alexander Gustafsson Was Understandably Feeling a Bit Ruthless as He Trolled Him at the UFC 232 Weigh-Ins…
We’re hours away from the last massive MMA showdown of 2018, with Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson set to take each other on for the vacant UFC light-heavyweight title. The pair has previous, having fought out an all-time classic back in 2013, at UFC 165. Now at UFC 232, in Inglewood, California, the rematch is set to go ahead.
The fact that two all-time greats of the division are set to go to war again has been overshadowed by a minuscule amount of picograms – a word we didn’t even know existed until a few days ago – of Turinabol had been found in one of Jones’s test samples. After the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, it was moved to California.
Now Gustafsson has gone in hard on Jones. He’s been very lively in press conferences and while Jones is the bookies favourite, a lot of fans think the Swede is going to pull off an upset. He’s definitely being aggressive in the psychological battle. Check out the t-shirt he wore to the weigh-ins.
Alexander Gustafsson is a man of few words, but I get the sense he has some strong emotions about all this he’s not telling us. You can hear a little of that in his responses. pic.twitter.com/dnaixssH8n
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 29, 2018
Cheater
Jones provided his opponents with the ammunition, and now he’ll have to deal with accusations of cheating for the remainder of his career. ‘Gus’ is adamant that the New York native has been cheating throughout his career and relies on the PEDs for confidence. At the UFC 232 press conference he said:
Yes, I do (believe he’s a cheater). “Yes, I do. This guy is not confident. He has to put (expletive) in his body to be confident. That’s all it is.”
No holding back from the Swedish superstar.
Let’s talk about Alexander Gustafsson’s shirt 👀 #UFC232 pic.twitter.com/zXmzanSYuB
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 29, 2018
Respect
While ‘The Mauler’ might not like the man, he definitely has an appreciation for Jones’s ability in the octagon. He’s personally aware of just how dangerous ‘Bones’ is. Bar that disqualification against Matt Hammill, Jones has never lost. During a media scrum earlier in the week, Gustafsson said:
“Fighting Jon Jones again, and it’s been five years since we fought – it’s the fight I’ve been wanting for a long time and dreaming about and training for all this time. All this time, I’ve been training for this fight. This is it. I’m preparing for him. Every session, I’ve prepared for him. That’s the best guy out there, and that’s the guy I’m beating.”
U r a damn clown!!! Of course we all know u r used to taking shots 💉 nothing new bro!!
The only ones u r blessed by is @danawhite and Jeff.
Ur luck runs out Saturday night!— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) December 24, 2018
Talking is Over
Now that all the weigh-ins and press conferences are over, the talking will finally be done in the octagon. This is a massive opportunity for both men. Earlier today Daniel Cormier vacated the light-heavyweight title – although he was set to be stripped anyway. That’s the prize on the line. For Gustafsson, the biggest prize in MMA, bigger than winning any belt, is beating Jones.
Meanwhile, Jones has his eyes set on more lucrative prizes. He’s been vocal about wanting a fight with Brock Lesnar and wants Daniel Cormier to come back down again. But he has to get past the Swedish Viking first… and an upset could well be on the cards.
