Alexander Gustafsson Wants Daniel Cormier Rematch: ‘There’s No One Else I Would Consider Fighting’

Alexander Gustafsson is gunning for another shot at the UFC light heavyweight title and he’d got the champion Daniel Cormier firmly within his sights.

Gustafsson sat back and watched Cormier defeat Volkan Oezdemir last weekend at UFC 220 and he wasn’t impressed by either man. Speaking to Viaplay this past weekend, Gustafsson gave his thoughts on the fight and he didn’t hold back.

“I’m not impressed, I’m not. First and foremost, I knew that DC would win. Volkan hadn’t really proven himself yet. Everyone knew that he’s a hard puncher, but no one really knew what other tools he had Now we saw that he was punching hard in the first couple of minutes, but DC was able to take his shots, smile a little bit, take him down, get him in a crucifix and pound him out,” he said.

“So I’m not impressed with Volkan’s performance at all and I also didn’t think DC looked that good actually. I don’t know, maybe I’m super critical but I think he performed better against me as well as in some other fights than what he did in this one. I almost think that he’s latest fight against Jon Jones affected him a bit. I think he looked pretty slow.”

Gustafsson was particularly unimpressed with the challenger and he went on to explain why he was so disappointed with his performance.

“If you are at our level, you won’t see a crucifix like this,” Gustafsson said. “The fact that he got Volkan in that crucifix says everything about Volkan’s quality and capacity on the ground.

“I mean, it’s not enough just to be a hard puncher – you have to be a complete fighter. Especially if you compete for the world title.”

With Oezdemir now out of the title picture, the table looks set for Gustafsson to return and claim the next title shot. The Swede confirmed that’s exactly the plan he has in mind.

“No, it’s DC without a doubt. There’s no one else who I’d even consider fighting. I will compete and if I compete – then me versus DC is the fight to make. Without a doubt.”

Gustafsson then gave an update on his recovery from shoulder injury and he indicated that he would be ready to return to the Octagon as early as spring time this year.

“I mean, the shoulder is recovering well,” Gustafsson said. “I have some rehab left but I’m back in sparring – I actually sparred with Ilir [Latifi] today and my training is going good. It feels good, I mean I won’t push too hard just yet but heck, in the spring, late spring or early in the summer I’ll be ready.

“I’ve got some stuff to take care of, like getting a visa in order to go to USA and things like that. When I’ve got that sorted out I’ll go to the states, take a couple of meetings and then hopefully I’ll get a title shot against DC. That’s the plan.”

Given the quality of the first encounter between Cormier and Gustafsson, fans will no doubt be highly anticipating a rematch later this year.