Quote: ‘Beating Jon Jones Is Bigger Than Taking The Belt’

There is one fighter who believes that beating Jon Jones is bigger than winning the UFC light heavyweight championship.

That fighter top contender Alexander Gustafsson, who has some history with the former light heavyweight champion. If you recall, Gustafsson had a great fight with Jones back in 2013 at UFC 165 but lost by decision.

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will fight UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 226. They will also coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

Although DC wanted this bout, there were many fans who were also arguing that number one-ranked light heavyweight contender Gustafsson is the more deserving challenger.

If you recall, the two fighters already faced each other at UFC 192 in 2015, where Cormier won via split decision.

Gustafsson has won back-to-back fights since losing a close split decision to Cormier at UFC 192. In those fights, he scored a unanimous decision victory over Jan Blachowicz and knocking out Glover Teixeira.

Thus, these wins made some fight fans believe he should be next in line. Gustafsson appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show to talk about the upcoming super fight at UFC 226 and his desire to fight Jones once again.

“I had my eyes on that gold,” said Gustafsson (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “I actually counted on fighting DC but then it was all gone by him going up to Stipe. It’s a crazy situation. The whole division is crazy right now. We don’t even know if he comes back. Who knows what happens in that fight. . . DC s a really good heavyweight so who knows what happens.”

“I’m telling you, that guy is such a beast,” said Gustafsson of Jones latest failed drug test. “It’s so stupid because he’s the best guy, pound-for-pound out there. He’s done things nobody else has done. He’s just a beast and still, s**t just comes up all the time. He doesn’t even need that steroid. He doesn’t need that s**t in him. He’s still the best guy out there.”

“Fighting him and beating him, that’s bigger than taking the belt right now, that’s how I feel,” said Gustafsson. “Look at what he did to DC. And DC is tough. He finished DC. That’s just insane.”