Alexander Gustafsson Retires After Anthony Smith Taps Him, Rakic Destroys Manuwa With KO At UFC Sweden

Light Heavyweights looked to get themselves into title contention in Stockholm.

#2 Alexander Gustafsson’s last win before Saturday night came over a full year before #4 Anthony Smith even came to the 205 pound division. The latter had went on a run of slaying future Hall of Famers before ultimately running into the entire division’s kryptonite in Jon Jones. In Sweden, the two clashed.

MASSIVE body shot into a takedown!@AlexTheMauler looks to take control as we head to the fourth. #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/kWD4aywuYW

— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019

Smith brought the entire arena to a major hush when he flattened out Gustafsson and submitted him en route to a major victory. For the fighter who wasn’t even a light heavyweight a year ago, it was arguable the biggest win of his MMA career. He’s now defeated four fighters that have competed for a UFC title.

After the fight, Gustafsson took off his gloves in the cage and said “the show is over,” implying that he has retired. If the retirement holds true, he’ll go out with an 18-6 pro record, and a 10-6 record in the UFC. He would come up short in all three of his UFC Championship title opportunities. 

The show lost one of its top fights in #9 Ilir Latifi against #7 Volkan Oezdemir, but that ended up being okay as Alekandar Rakic made a big impression. He moved to 4-0 in the UFC after obliterating former title challenger Jimi Manuwa with an insane head kick that effectively eliminated Manuwa’s hopes of competing in the top 10 again.

UNBELIEVABLE!

OH MY, @RAKIC_UFC!

https://t.co/9sFxPgQC5a #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/bpU0Q7lnbA

— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019

You can see our full coverage of UFC Stockholm at this link, and check out our post-show podcast at this link.