“I don’t like him,” Gustafsson says during the press conference. “I give him that he’s the best fighter of all time, the best pound-for-pound fighter in our division.”
“But as a person, as a champion, he’s not a champion in my eyes. He’s not a good person, in my eyes,” he said. “That’s why I always tell the guys that I hope ‘DC’ wins because he is a worthy champion and I like the guy.”
“I believe and I know I can beat DC and Jones now. I can’t wait to show everyone the new and improved Alex. I’ve been close to being a champion before, but I still believe I’ve got a lot to learn. That’s why I’ve used this time away from competition to really focus on sharpening all of my skills. I truly believe I’ve not yet reached my full potential. I’ve still so much to give, and I’m only 29 years old. I have a good few years left in me and I feel good—actually, I feel great—and I’m ready to go now.”
UFC Fight Night 93 on Sept. 3, 2016 is the first time since his last fight that ‘The Mauler’ will step in the cage, against Jan Blachowicz in Hamburg, Germany.
According to Gustafsson, he’s quite ready for the challenge:
“I think it’s going to be a really good fight actually, and I think Jan is going to be a tough opponent for me. It took them a while to find me someone, and we’ve been searching someone for quite some time, but for different reasons, none of the top ranked guys could fight, so they’ve given me an opponent, and he’s a familiar one. Jan is a guy I have trained with a couple of times, and I know him quite well, and I know he’s a good fighter. It’s going to be a great card, and this will be a good test for me when I return.”