Alexander Gustafsson suffered a disastrous return to the Octagon yesterday at UFC Fight Night 208 when he was KO’d by Nikita Krylov in just 67 seconds, and it’s led to some of his fellow fighters suggesting that it’s now time for the 35-year-old to hang up his gloves.
The loss marked Gustafsson’s fourth loss in a row, having also been TKO’d by Jon Jones and submitted by both Anthony Smith and Fabricio Werdum. It only gets worse when you look further back as the reality hits that the former 205lb title challenger has only won three of his last 10 fights, a far cry from the 15-1 run he delivered prior to his initial title shot back in 2013.
Truth be told, there have long been warning signs that Gustafsson’s heart was no longer in fighting as he’s taken several lengthy breaks from the sport and has flirted with retirement on more than one occasion and now it seems that others are in agreement that it’s the right choice for him.
“Gustafson is done,” a former opponent of the fighter, Daniel Cormier declared after his KO loss. “He needs to walk away, these shots are hard but he used to eat those. The chin is gone, walk away my friend. We all have expiration date. One of the best to not have had a title.”
Former fighter Kenny Florian appeared to be in agreement.
“Not sure what is more difficult, to become a professional fighter or for a professional fighter to know he needs to stop being a professional fighter,” Florian noted after the fight.
Gustafsson, who now holds an overall 18-8 career record, hasn’t yet indicated what his future plans are, though he did offer up a brief statement to his fans after the loss.
“I’m ok. Disappointed,” Gustafsson wrote. “Congratulations to Nikita and thank u all for support ❤️.”
