The UFC pays a visit to Sweden on Saturday for UFC on ESPN+ 11. Like the promotion’s past two visits to the country, the card is headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring Sweden’s own Alexander Gustafsson, who faces Anthony Smith.
Gustafsson, a three-time title challenger, saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end in December when Jon Jones stopped him via TKO in the third round of their matchup for the vacant belt. Smith was on a three-fight winning streak until Jones defeated him by decision in March in his first attempt at UFC gold.
UFC on ESPN+ 11 takes place at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm and streams on ESPN+. Here are eight burning questions heading into the card.
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1. Does Alexander Gustafsson still have it?
In the days after he signed to fight Smith, Gustafsson said that if he can’t beat the recent UFC light heavyweight title challenger, “then maybe I don’t have it anymore.”
Some read those comments as Gustafsson (18-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) denigrating the skills of his UFC on ESPN+ 11 opponent. Gustafsson said he meant just the opposite, that Smith (31-14 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is a tough and worthy opponent, and that his goal is to hand Smith his second consecutive defeat and move up the rankings.
Gustafsson was and is one of the best fighters in the UFC. He is correct to wonder about his future if he loses to Smith. A defeat here means a slip down the rankings and having to work his way back to a potential title shot. With three title fights already on his resume, Gustafsson will have a hard time getting booked for a fourth. He hopes to hang onto his spot in the rankings and force himself back in. With eight years and 15 fights in the UFC, I wouldn’t blame Gustafsson for his disinterest in fighting his way back through the rankings.
2. Is Anthony Smith ready for this fight?
Less than two weeks after he lost to Jones, Smith accepted a fight with Gustafsson. At the time, Smith seemed less than jazzed about the concept of fighting anyone, least of all the fighter who is ranked No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie light heavyweight rankings.
Smith, who is ranked No. 12, said that, due to his busy schedule (UFC on ESPN+ 11 will mark his sixth fight in 15 months), he has been in training camp for 40 of the past 60 weeks.
Perhaps Smith’s tune on fighting too much will change, if it already hasn’t. But the fact remains that he gave an honest and open response to the fight booking, and it’s hard not to wonder if he’s ready to face a task as daunting as Gustafsson after such a grueling schedule of training, fighting and being away from his family.
3. Can Jimi Manuwa stay in the mix?
If the light heavyweight division wasn’t so shallow, you’d have to wonder if Jimi Manuwa would currently be ranked inside the top 15.
Manuwa, No. 13, is also on a three-fight losing skid. Like Oezdemir, he has two stoppage setbacks in those three defeats. His most recent win was a March 2017 knockout of Corey Anderson.
Manuwa (17-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) faces the unranked Aleksandar Rakic (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), on Saturday, who is on an 11-fight winning streak and coming off a first-round knockout win over Devin Clark.
Needless to say, Manuwa is very much in need of a win.
4. Can Tonya Evinger catch a break?
Former Invicta FC featherweight champion Tonya Evinger has not had the easiest UFC career since joining the promotion in 2017. Her first fight was for the vacant UFC women’s featherweight title against Cris Cyborg, who won that bout by third-round TKO. In her next outing, Evinger faced rising star Aspen Ladd in a bantamweight matchu that. Ladd won via first-round TKO.
Evinger (19-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC) meets Lina Lansberg (8-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in Stockholm. Lansberg also has stoppage losses to Cyborg and Ladd on her record, but between those setbacks she has decision victories over Lucie Pudilova and Gina Mazany. Her most recent fight was a decision loss to Yana Kunitskaya, a woman who Evinger defeated by submission during Evinger’s reign as the Invicta FC champ.
Despite her 0-2 run, Evinger is the No. 7 fighter in the women’s bantamweight division. Evinger accumulated a lot of good will during her unbeaten eight-fight run with Invicta, but she could see a good portion of that evaporate if she fails to score a win over Lansberg.
5. Can ‘Mr. Finland’ do more than occasionally entertain?
Makwan Amirkhani has been a fighter to watch since he joined the UFC in 2015. The problem with Amirkhani is that after his first two wins in 2015, he’s only fought once per year over the next three years. Amirkhani (14-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) ends another year-long break in Stockholm when he faces Chris Fishgold (18-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a featherweight contest.
Amirkhani is a showman. He’s also a talented fighter. He reminds fans of both these facts each time he steps into the octagon. The issue with that is if he only competes once a year, it’s difficult to remember what he accomplished in his most recent fight. With that, it feels like Amirkhani is constantly resetting and therefore unable to make any progress in the crowded featherweight division.
At 30, the clock is ticking on the career of “Mr. Finland.” If he can get by the favored Fishgold in Sweden and fight more than once in 2019, he could make some moves in the 145-pound rankings.
The 26-year-old Fishgold, who is a former Cage Warriors champion, knows something about staying busy in the UFC. This fight marks his third bout since he debuted with the promotion in October.
6. What’s the upside of Darko Stosic?
It’s kind of crazy to recall that Darko Stosic signed with the UFC in December 2017, which is around the same time the promotion signed Israel Adesanya. While Adesanya has been insanely active and captured an interim middleweight title since inking his deal, Stosic has fought only once.
Stosic looked impressive in that bout. He was extremely calm, confident and poised in his UFC debut against Jeremy Kimball. When the time came to ramp up his aggression after he got Kimball to the mat, Stosic, who is a former heavyweight, unleashed a nasty flurry of ground strikes that brought the fight to an end at the 3:13 mark of the first round. The win was Stosic’s third straight first-round stoppage.
One of the reasons the 26-year-old showed so much poise in the octagon might be because he is a training partner and protege of the legendary Mirko Cro-Cop.
Stosic (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) gets a tougher test in his second UFC fight, where he faces six-fight UFC vet and former RFA light heavyweight champion Devin Clark. The 29-year-old Clark (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Aleksandar Rakic.
This matchup could be one that could tell us if Stosic is someone to keep an eye on in the shallow pool that is the 205-pound division.
7. Can Leonardo Santos make up for lost time?
A lot has changed since Leonardo Santos last fought. When Santos defeated Adriano Martins in a lightweight bout at UFC 204 in October 2016, Conor McGregor was still a couple of months away from unseating Eddie Alvarez from the top of the 155-pound ranks. That win moved Santos to 5-0-1 with the UFC and had him calling for a shot at a top-10 opponent. Unfortunately, injuries to himself and one potential opponent, have kept Santos (16-3-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) from the octagon since the victory over Martins. He makes his return in Stockholm were he faces Stevie Ray (22-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC).
The 39-year-old Santos had stoppage wins over Anthony Rocco Martin (who was still Tony Martin at the time) and Kevin Lee before he faced Martins, so he did have some positive momentum in the stacked 155-pound division. However, that momentum did not launch him into the rankings at the time. With the depth of the weight class, Santos has his work cut out for him heading into his matchup against Ray, who is coming off an October loss to Jessin Ayari. If Santos, who is an accomplished black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wants to get back to where he was in 2016, he’s going to need to impress against Ray.
8. Which newcomer should you keep an eye on?
Of the fighters who make their UFC debuts in Sweden, the most interesting prospect might be Sung Bin Jo. In his most recent fight, which took place in February 2018, Jo won the TFC interim featherweight title via a fourth-round knockout. The 26-year-old South Korean displayed a good technical striking game during the bout and some impressive hand speed. He also showed good finishing skills. When he had his opponent hurt, he swarmed him with an aggressive and violent attack, mostly relying on knees to the body and head from the clinch.
The one issue that faced Jo during his matchup against Jun Young Hong was that he ate some heavy leg kicks and did not take them well. Had Hong upped his intensity, he might have been able to finish Jo. Another area of concern for the 26-year-old is that he has only fought once per year in 2017 and 2018 and is coming off a lengthy layoff.
Jo (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who is unbeaten with nine finishes in his nine pro bouts, faces Swedish competitor Daniel Teymur. This is likely a do or die fight for the 31-year-old Teymur (6-3 MMA, 0-3 UFC) as he is 0-3 with the UFC and he has been submitted in his two most recent outings. Teymur opened his career at 6-0 with six first-round finishes.
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 11, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
