Outside Source
Sueco é esperado para lutar no card de 25 de julho, na Ilha da Luta. Fabrício Werdum é o provável adversário e um acordo é iminente, mas, caso não se concretize, Ovince St-Preux já teve seu nome ventilado como “plano B”. https://t.co/FfoRUI8oMS
— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) June 5, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 250 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Multiple-time Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson is back after a short-lived retirement.
On Friday morning, Combate reported that Gustafsson (18-6) is coming back to the Octagon as a heavyweight, and his first opponent back will be former heavyweight king Fabricio Werdum (23-9-1). The matchup is in the works for the July 25 event that may take place on “Fight Island.” The fight has not officially been put together, so if it falls through, Ovince St. Preux (24-14) has been tapped as an alternate to Werdum.
Gustafsson left his gloves in the center of the cage after his fourth-round submission defeat to Anthony Smith in June 2019. Although that month he stated his retirement was final, in July, he backtracked a bit to admit that he was “far from a retired fighter.” A few months later, he said in an interview that he was in talks with the UFC to make his return. According to “The Mauler,” he felt that he “had itching in [his] hands and wanted to get back and train.” This match in the heavyweight division would be his first officially above light heavyweight, although he took a catchweight bout above 205 pounds in KSW early in his career.
The Swede briefly left the sport on a two-fight stoppage loss skid, where he lost in a title rematch to Jon Jones by knockout and then suffered the aforementioned setback to Smith. The only men to defeat the 33-year-old have all vied for or held a UFC title at some point. His career to this point has seen “The Mauler” amass a finish rate of 78 percent, and he holds wins over names including Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz, Mauricio Rua and Jimi Manuwa.
At the age of 42, Werdum is currently on the first losing streak of his career, with a late knockout in 2018 to Alexander Volkov followed by a split verdict defeat to Alexey Oleynik in May. The former champ sat out for two years after his defeat to Volkov when he tested positive for trenbolone, an anabolic steroid. Although he has lost recently, Werdum initially claimed the heavyweight throne with a series of six victories, culminating in a submission of then-champ Cain Velasquez in 2015.
The currently unnumbered Fight Night event on July 25 does not officially have a location yet, although it is expected to be held on “Fight Island.” The headliner will be a middleweight battle between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till. Also currently scheduled for the card is a bantamweight tussle between Bethe Correia and Pannie Kianzad.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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