Alexander Gustafsson opens up on loss to Jon Jones

Last night, in the main event of UFC 232, Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson attempted to become the first man to legitimately defeat Jon Jones — and capture the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in the process. Unfortunately for him, Jones executed a solid gameplan, immobilizing the Swede early on in the fight.

“He got me very, very early in the first round,” Gustafsson told reporters at a post-fight scrum (via MMAjunkie). “Very early. After that I just shut down. I wasn’t tired, I had my conditioning. I felt good. We had our exchanges and everything. He just shut me down very early in the first round and I couldn’t move at all. I told my corner that too and all that. He did what he was supposed to do and made sure he won the fight.”

“He just keeps a very high level of fighting. I was prepared for it,” Gustafsson continued, discussing Jon Jones’ performance. “He just caught me this time. That’s it. I didn’t notice anything about if he was stronger or faster or anything [than the first fight]. He went for his takedowns and his kicks and everything like that. I was prepared for it. He just had a really good move today and he shut me down.”

While this UFC 232 fight with Jon Jones didn’t go as planned, Alexander Gustafsson assures he has not reached the end of the road. He says he’ll continue fighting as long as he finds it fun — whether it’s at light heavyweight or heavyweight.

“It’s not over yet,” the long time Swedish light heavyweight contender said. “Let’s see what’s next. Like always, you do this for a reason. That is to compete with the best guys out there, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll do it as long as it’s fun.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/30/2018.