Recent Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title challenger, Alexander Gustafsson, will look to take on knockout artist, Anthony Johnson, this Saturday (Jan. 24, 2015) at UFC on FOX 14 inside the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
Gustafsson has evolved quite a bit from when he entered the UFC as a green boxer. After a decision loss to American wrestler Phil Davis, Gustafsson made the wise choice to join Davis at Alliance MMA. Since then, Gustafsson's wrestling has grown tremendously, and his kickboxing has become even more layered.
After going on a lengthy win streak, Gustafsson challenged Jon Jones for his strap. In an incredible battle, "The Mauler" was defeated very narrowly, as he came closer to victory than any of Jones' past foes. Now, Gustafsson is just a single victory away from earning a second chance.
Does he have the skills to take out "Rumble" first?
Let's find out.
Striking
Just before he signed with the UFC, Gustafsson was still competing in boxing and became an amateur champion. Since then, he's continued to improve with his hands and has developed a pretty effective kicking game, as well.
Gustafsson's boxing is very much based on his movement. The Swede is frequently circling his foes, switching directions, and generally looking for openings. As he moves around his opponent, Gustafsson will flick out jabs and feints, which allows him to judge reactions and determine exactly how to proceed.
Gustafsson is quite active with his jab as he works from the outside. Often, he'll mix up the tempos of his jab, again as a way to judge distance and reactions. Once Gustafsson is confident in his range or sees an opening, he'll put some snap into his jab or step hard into the strike for a power jab. In addition, it's not uncommon for him to double up on his jab, and he'll sometimes mix lighter jabs with hard shots.
"The Mauler's" jab can even be a finishing blow, if his opponent runs into it.
In Gustafsson's championship bout with Jones, the body jab was the foundation to his success. Gustafsson was finding his target pretty consistently early on, which allowed him to build his combinations off the strike. The body jab is an excellent tool for interrupting combinations as well as breathing, so it definitely made "Bones" breathe a bit deeper as the fight wore on.
Jones never really attempted to swat at the body jab -- which would make him much easier to hit -- but he did begin bracing for the impact or at least expecting. Even if his hands stayed in position, he was expecting a jab into his mid-section, rather than the punches that Gustafsson instead directed high.
In addition to feinting the body jab into head shots, Gustafsson worked from it. After landing a body jab, Gustafsson would come up and complete three to four punch combinations. Later in the fight, he'd mix it up by attacking the stomach with straight right hands and coming up or jabbing to both the head and body in combination. By constantly mixing targets, Gustafsson kept Jones off guard and landed punched at a much higher rate than most of Jones' opponents.
Commonly following Gustafsson's jab is his straight right hand. Thanks to his length, this boxing staple is especially effective for the Swede. To mix up his attack a bit, Gustafsson will sometimes lead with his right hand. Rather than dart in with the strike and exit off at an angle -- which is more common -- Gustafsson steps into the strike hard.
Gustafsson adores throwing his right uppercut. He mixes it into combinations often, as his height decreases the amount of distance his punch has to travel. Since shorter fighters often look to duck under Gustafsson's punches, he'll occasionally throw out a high jab and follow it up with a hard uppercut.
Against Jones, Gustafsson frequently used his left hook to counter Jones. As long as "Bones" was in range, it didn't matter what strike Gustafsson was throwing, as the Swede successfully came back with a left hook against jabs, right hands, leg kicks, and even a head kick. This also gives some insight on his mentality; regardless of whether he's hit during a combination or a strike gets past his defense, "The Mauler" will return fire.
Kicks are slowly becoming a more major part of Gustafsson's offense. His fleet-footed style of offense really does work well with kicks, as he's often at an angle from which he can safely deliver kicks with little set up. Plus, Gustafsson is a very lengthy fighter, so it wouldn't make sense for him to abandon such a powerful range tool.
In order to set up his kicks, Gustafsson often tries to get his opponent moving backwards, away from his punches. By keeping his opponent on his back foot, he helps keep himself safe from counters. It's also much more difficult to check low kicks while backing up. Alternatively, Gustafsson will simply feint as he circles, and hope to surprise his opponent with a quick low kick.
Outside of roundhouse kicks, Gustafsson has a fairly powerful front kick. In addition to helping him keep range, it's an excellent tool to threaten his opponents that are ducking or slipping as they look to close distance. Like the uppercut, Gustafsson's height makes this technique easier to land.
Defensively, Gustafsson is generally a pretty savvy striker. However, he does occasionally stand too tall, which leaves his head open to looping shots. In his fight with Mauricio Rua, this got him nailed by overhands a couple times.
On the plus side, Gustafsson does an excellent job circling out after landing a combination. Rather than stay in range and risk getting hit, Gustafsson lands his shots and gets out. When Gustafsson is on point, this allows him to control the flow of the bout, as he's the only one landing shots instead of trading blows.
Wrestling
Gustafsson may not have a wrestling background, but his mixed martial arts (MMA) wrestling is pretty phenomenal. In addition to being nearly impossible to get a grip on, the Swede made history as the first man to ever take Jon Jones to the floor.
And it took him quite a bit less effort than Jones' recent challenger, former Olympian Daniel Cormier.
Gustafsson has a very nice double leg takedown, which is accentuated by his excellent timing. While circling around his opponent, Gustafsson will sometimes burst forward with a shot rather than combination. Since he isn't shooting from straight on, this is much more difficult to defend.
Alternatively, Gustafsson will wait for his opponent to really plant his feet and try to land a power shot. Then, he'll change levels and run through his opponent at the waist. Against Rua, Gustafsson hit a few double leg takedowns after drawing "Shogun" into a brawl.
Returning to Gustafsson's most impressive wrestling accomplishment -- his takedown of Jones -- the champion expected the boxer to throw some punches when moving forward. Instead, Gustafsson ducked underneath Jones' outstretched arms and secured a grip on one leg and waist. From there, he spun "Bones" as he lifted, causing Jones to tumble to the mat.
A large part of Gustafsson's sturdy takedown defense is thanks to his movement and range. Since he's frequently circling, it isn't easy to line up a shot on him. Plus, trying to get closer in order to set up the double leg is an excellent way to get countered. Instead, a lot of fighters -- even the very lengthy champion -- will try to clinch up with Gustafsson rather than shoot.
Unfortunately for them, Gustafsson's clinch defense is excellent. As soon as his opponent starts to engage, Gustafsson shoots his hips low and begins pushing away. Once there's a bit of room, Gustafsson will either dig for underhooks or frame his opponent's face, creating more distance. Before long, Gustafsson has at least one underhook and will push at his opponent's hips, allowing him to escape.
Additionally, Gustafsson is very quick to return to his feet when taken down. Once he hits the mat, Gustafsson will scoot his hips until his back reaches the fence. From there, he'll work for an underhook and wall walk back to standing.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)
Gustafsson's excellent takedown defense and get ups make his guard game pretty difficult to get a read on. Usually, he's too busy working for underhooks to really play any type of guard; "The Mauler" just wants to return to his feet.
Regardless, the purple belt is pretty talented from top position. Against both James Te Huna and Cyrille Diabate -- two very powerful strikes -- Gustafsson used a cut pass to get through their guards. Eventually, both men gave up their backs and necks, as the Swede locked in rear naked chokes. In his last fight, Gustafsson looked to use a similar strategy, but Manuwa simply squeezed from half guard.
Defensively, Gustafsson showed his improvements against Rua. When the Brazilian rolled into a heel hook, his best technique, Gustafsson remained calm but acted quickly. Immediately spinning, "The Mauler" quickly attempted to kick off Rua and create space. This forced "Shogun" to attempt a calf slicer, and Gustafsson escaped during the transition.
Best chance for success
Gustafsson is going to box with Johnson, and that's not a bad idea. However, he definitely needs to be wary of his opponent's knockout power, which is a threat to anyone in the division.
I'd like to see Gustafsson return to his body jab in this bout. "Rumble" may have showed good conditioning against Phil Davis, but he was utterly dominating that fight. If it's a competitive battle in which Gustafsson is frequently landing body blows, Johnson will likely slow down.
In addition, Gustafsson's duck into the body jab could be used to set up a takedown later in the fight. From his back, Johnson is known to give up the rear naked choke, especially when he's tired. Since Gustafsson has shown that he's willing to grapple in order to avoid power punches, that could be a very wise strategy.
At worst, it simply gives Johnson another thing to think about outside of Gustafsson's combinations.
Will Alexander Gustafsson work his way back to a title shot, or can Anthony Johnson steal his spot?