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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson takes on Alexander Gustafsson in Sweden in January, trying to get a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship later in 2015. Speaking about the matchup in a press conference in Sweden this week, Johnson held Gustafsson in high regard, and said he thought the Swede should have won the decision against Jon Jones last September.
"I thought [Gustfasson] won. Whenever they announced that Jones won, I was shocked," Johnson said (transcribed by Sherdog.com). "I actually thought Alexander won. But you can't win them all. When you're fighting the champion, you definitely have to put him away. And it was a really close fight but I still think that he did enough.... but that's just how the dice rolled."
The winner of this fight is hoping to face the winner of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, which happens earlier in the month at UFC 183. Johnson says he's got a lot of respect for the reigning Champion, but adds that he's pulling for a Cormier win to have some new blood at the top.
"I want Daniel Cormier to win just to shake up the division a little bit, but he is fighting Jones so that's going to be tough to do," Johnson said. "I'm picking Daniel to win just because I want him to shake up the division - give people something different to talk about. [Jones is] a beast. He's the best in the world; he's the best ever at 205. He definitely has my respect. Everybody at 205 has my respect. It would be nice for a change to hear another name."
Penick's Analysis: There's one problem with Johnson's logic, at least as far as it affects him, because a Cormier win on Jan. 3 will almost assuredly bring an immediate rematch in the summer, leaving the Johnson-Gustafsson winner needing another win in order to set up a title fight. So he should be pulling for Jones to win in order to get his own title fight after the Gustafsson fight if he pulls off the win.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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