Alexander Gustafsson (17-4) and Glover Teixera (26-5), both former challengers to the UFC light heavyweight championship, will meet in Gustafsson’s hometown of Stockholm, Sweden, on Sunday May 28th in a title eliminator to determine the next challenger to the 205-pound title currently held by Daniel Cormier it was confirmed today by the organisation.
This will be the UFC’s fourth event in Sweden and their first since 2015, an event which pulled in 30,000 fans — a record for a European event. On that night Gustafsson was defeated by current divisional number one contender Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. Most recently, the Swede defeated Poland’s Jan Blachowicz last September at UFC Fight Night 93 in Hamburg.
Teixera, meanwhile, earned a victory in his last UFC outing earlier this month with a unanimous decision victory over Jared Cannonier, rebounding from a first round knockout at the hands of Johnson at UFC 202 last August.
The winner of the bout, according to the press release distributed by the UFC, will be considered the top light heavyweight contender and will be ideally placed to face the winner of the Cormier vs. Johnson rematch on April 8th at UFC 210.
This news seems to suggest that Jon Jones won’t immediately challenge for the light heavyweight title upon his return from suspension as had previously been speculated.
Elsewhere on the card, the UFC have also announced that Sweden’s Magnus Cedenblad will face Chris Camozzi in a middleweight bout, while Christian Colombo will take on Damian Grabowski. Jack Hermansson has also been booked to fight Alex Nicholson.
Speaking of the event James Elliott, Vice President, UFC EMEA, said: “Our fans in Sweden have been demanding another event for the past two years and we are thrilled to deliver another stand out event for them this May. Sweden has always been a very engaged market for us and alongside our partners at Viaplay and Stockholm Live this will be a can’t miss event for sports fans not just in Sweden but across Scandinavia”.
Tickets for the event go on sale on March 31st.
