Gustafsson Wants Rematch: You have to finish the champ to take his belt

One of the years best fights took place this past weekend at UFC 165 in Toronto, as Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson (15-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and Jon “Bones” Jones (19-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) went to war in the evenings main event.

After a grueling 25-minutes of intense back and forth action, the attention turned from the fighters, to the judges scorecards, for the much anticipated decision.

In the end, the judges scored the fight narrowly in favor of the champion, Jon Jones, which marked “Bones” sixth-consecutive defense, setting a new record for light heavyweight title defenses.

During the UFC 165 post-show on Fox Sports 2, Gustafsson was the epitome of respect:

“I learned a lot from this fight,” said Gustafsson.‘ “He’s the champ for a reason. To take the belt from the champ you need to finish him. That’s how it is and I didn’t do it. The biggest lesson is I have to push the pace harder. I just did what I thought I could do and it wasn’t enough. I will come back stronger and better. I’m disappointed, but I’m very proud of what I did and my team.”

“The Mauler” was enthusiastic about the prospect of a remacth with Jones:

“Absolutely, I’m down whenever,” said Gustafsson. “I want a rematch right away, if I can. It’s up to the UFC. I’m just blessed to be fighting in the UFC. I believe it’s an honor to fight Jones and I’ll be ready whenever they call me.”

After such an epic brawl, which resulted in a very close judges decision, chances are good that we could be treated to a rematch between “Bones” and “The Mauler.” Is a rematch between Jones and Gustafsson a fight you would like to see put together by the UFC? Or is Jones vs. Teixeira the fight to make? Let’s hear it Penn Nation!