Following his loss to Anthony Smith, Alexander Gustafsson announced his retirement this Saturday in Sweden.
Although a devastating defeat but definitely not one after which you’d expect something like this. The statement he made well after the match confirmed this was not a decision made in in an emotional moment.
“Yeah I am. I’m done,” Gustafsson told the UFC Fight Night post fight show. “It feels like I don’t have it in me anymore to be honest. I did a mistake that I shouldn’t do and I just have a feeling it’s the time now.
“I don’t want to be a journeyman. I don’t want to do this just because I’m getting paid. I just want to do this because I love it and I want to be at the top.”
Gustafsson, saying he trained well but came up short, made no excuses for his defeat.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome of the fight,” Gustafsson said. “I was ready for this. I’ve been training hard and I was just ready. I was in my zone and it felt good. I don’t do this for the money or anything. I do this because I want to be the best and beat the best so if I can’t do that, it is what it is.”
According to him, this was supposed to be the match that would’ve helped him gain momentum after his loss against Jon Jones last December. The inability to do so is a sign for him to retire.
“I lost my third title fight. It’s the top guys, I thought I can rebuild that. I can start with Smith and take it from there but well I lost this time, too,” Gustafsson said. “It is what it is.
“I had a great journey. I have everything in my life because of this sport, because of the UFC and I’m thankful and it’s been a great journey.”
The 32 year old veteran is now looking forward towards spending some quality time with his family and building the sport in Sweden.
“I’m just going to spend time with my kids. I own the gym I train in and I’ve got some projects going on here. Let’s see what the next chapter will be,” Gustafsson said.
“I’m very grateful for my career as a fighter and being able to fight for the UFC for so long.”
