Alexander Gustafsson’s woes continues as the former UFC light-heavyweight title challenger has been forced to pull out of his headlining fight with Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 69 in Germany on June 20th due to an injury.
Gustafsson is reported to have been dealing with a back problem that’s left him unable to compete against Teixeira and he’s now targeting September for a possible return to the Octagon.
This marks the latest disappointment for the Swedish star who had his heart set on his rematch with Jon Jones for the UFC light-heavyweight title in September of last year, but had to pull out due to a knee injury. Upon his return at the start of 2015 he was then upset in a title eliminator in front of 26,000 of his own fans in Stockholm as Anthony Johnson handed him a first round TKO loss.
At this stage it’s unclear what the UFC plans to do with Teixeira, but whatever happens he won’t be headlining the event any more as a new fight has been announced to top the bill in Berlin.
That will come in the shape of a woman’s strawweight title fight as Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends her title for the first time against Jessica Penne.
Poland’s first ever UFC champion Jedrzejczyk has made a big impression in a relatively short space of time in the Octagon, with three victories there so far in under a year that have showcased her technical boxing and cast-iron takedown defense.
Former Invicta FC atomweight champion Penne, currently ranked No.3 in the division, will hope that she can do a better job of getting her to the mat than Carla Esparza did though as she’s a submission specialist.
