Gegard Mousasi Meets Alexander Gustafsson in UFC Debut

Alexander Gustafsson

Alexander Gustafsson Welcomes Gegard Mousasi to the UFC at April Event

It appears Gegard Mousasi is being placed right “in the mix” for his first foray into the UFC.

Light heavyweights Mousasi and Alexander Gustafsson have officially been booked to headline the UFC’s return to Sweden.

MMAjunkie.com reported the news. UFC officials have confirmed the matchup.

The fight card is likely to be billed as “UFC on FUEL TV 9”, though it is also being titled “UFC Sweden 2.” The event takes place April 6 in Stockholm, Sweden at Ericsson Globe Arena. The main card will broadcast on FUEL TV, with the preliminary fights available for viewing on Facebook.

"Sweden is an incredible market for the UFC, and we're excited to once again bring a major UFC card to the Ericsson Globe Arena," Garry Cook, UFC executive vice president and managing director EMEA, said. "Alexander Gustafsson is a big star in Sweden and has quickly grown in popularity worldwide thanks to his success in the octagon. We know the fans in Sweden will make the Ericsson Globe Arena an absolutely electric atmosphere as he takes on the very talented Gegard Mousasi on April 6."

The UFC’s last trip to Stockholm was for UFC on FUEL TV 2 in 2011, which Gustafsson also headlined against Thiago Silva. That event sold out in just three hours and was also held at Ericsson Globe Arena.

Gustafsson is 15-1 overall throughout his career. The only loss came against Phil Davis, now a training partner of Gustafsson’s, in 2010. Riding high off of his recent unanimous decision win over MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC on FOX 5, it was thought “The Mauler” would be next to fight for the belt after champion Jon Jones faces Chael Sonnen in April at UFC 159. UFC President Dana White claimed the winner of Gustafsson vs. Rua would get a title shot.

"If Alexander can beat Shogun, he'd get the shot,” stated White at the UFC on FOX 5 pre-fight press conference. “If Shogun wins, he gets it. Unless some crazy sh*t happens, which always does - he has to take another fight before that because he wants to stay active or something - but other than that, the winner of this fight will get the next shot."

However, the native of Stockholm refuses to wait around.

“I want to stay active and I want to fight,” Gustafsson said at the UFC on FOX 5 post-fight press conference. “I’ll fight whenever. I was away for a long time. The last time I fought was in April, and that was too long. To wait till summer again, that would be too long.”

It appears Mousasi also wishes to stay active. The Strikeforce import signed on for this bout just one week after submitting Mike Kyle via rear-naked choke in the first round at “Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine.” Prior to his recent win, Mousasi had not fought for over a year. He is currently 5-1-1 in his last seven fights.

Read up on all the latest UFC news.