The UFC have found a late replacement for Alexander Gustafsson, with Sweden’s own Iliir Latifa now set to fight Gegard Mousasi in the main event of ‘UFC On Fuel TV 9’ this weekend.
“Mousasi will face Iliir Latifa this Saturday live on @FUELTV Latifa is from Sweden and training partner of Gustafsson,” Dana White announced on Twitter.
Latifa, known as ‘The Sledgehammer’ wasn’t part of the UFC’s roster until today, but does hold a 7-2 professional record and is currently on a three fight winning streak.
His last defeat came to Emanuel Newton who recently produced an upset KO win over ‘King Mo’ before proceeding to win Bellator’s season 8 light-heavyweight tournament, and the fact Latifa took him to a decision shows he’s capable of mixing it up at a decent level.
Still, it’s a big ask for him to be taking on a fighter of Mousasi’s caliber on just a few days notice.
It’s clearly a case of ‘any port in a storm’ as far as the UFC is concerned though and while this may be one of the flimsiest headliner’s we’ve seen gracing the Octagon in quite some time it’s better than nothing, and at least ensures that the Swedish fans still have a fellow countryman to cheer on.
