Monday Morning Hangover: Alexander Gustafsson ends Jimi Manuwa's perfect MMA run in London

Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC Fight Night 37 blew the roof off the O2 Arena last Saturday night (March 8, 2014) in London, England.

Many combatants were left licking their wounds after a wild night of fights, including Melvin Guillard, who was bested by former Blackzilian teammate Michael Johnson (recap). And Cyrille Diabate, who ended his mixed martial arts (MMA) career on a low note, getting choked out by Ilir Latifi in the opening round (read about it here).

But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover now two days removed from the show?

Jimi Manuwa.

The surging light heavyweight looked to collect his biggest win to date as he took on former No.1 contender Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of the UFC Fight Pass card. In the process, "Poster Boy" looked to crush "The Mauler's" title hopes and end all possibility of a potential rematch against division kingpin Jon Jones.

Unfortunately for Jimi, he ran into one determined Swede as Gustafsson took care of business by knocking out Manuwa in the second round (video).

In the opening round, Manuwa was more than happy to keep it standing, as he pressed forward early in an attempt to set the tone. Gustafsson, however, scored a big takedown to nullify "Poster Boy's" specialty. While "The Mauler" didn't do much on the ground offensively, he did avoid having to trade punches with his powerful foe.

But in the second round, Alexander was more than happy to prove that he had the chops to stand-and-bang against a man whose 13 of 14 wins have come by either knockout or technical knockout, as the towering Swede used his lanky limbs to his advantage by landing a picture-perfect knee to Manuwa's kisser that wobbled him.

And like a shark smelling blood, Gustafsson moved in for the kill, landing an uppercut which sent Manuwa crumbling to the ground, only to be on the receiving end of a couple hammer fists that resulted in his first-ever loss.

While the defeat was a crushing for Manuwa, the future still looks bright for the powerful striker, as losing to Gustafsson is nothing to hang one's head over.

The only question is, how well-rounded is the 34-year old Brit?

Fans haven't seen much of him on the ground or in the later rounds, as the majority of his bouts have played out on the feet and only five of his 15 fights have ever made it to the second round. So, Jimi's overall MMA game is still somewhat of a mystery.

A fight against Rafael Cavalcante -- who is more than capable of striking with the best of them and can easily take his opponent down and submit them -- would be a good test for Manuwa's next bout to see just how well he can mix it up.

Sure, Rafael won his last outing against Igor Pokrajac, but seeing as how he's gone 1-1-1 in his last three bouts, taking on someone coming off a loss isn't necessarily taking a step back. Especially someone who was previously undefeated (14-0, 3-0 UFC).

Any objections?