Two light heavyweight contenders coming off title-fight losses to Jon Jones will attempt to put themselves back into contention at UFC on ESPN+ 10 in June.
Sweden’s own Alexander Gustafsson (18-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) will headline in his home country when he meets Anthony Smith (31-14 MMA, 7-4 UFC) on the June 1 card, which takes place at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm and streams on ESPN+.
MMAjunkie verified that verbal agreements are in place for the 205-pound bout following an initial report from ESPN.com. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to formally announce the bout.
Gustafsson, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings, finally got his long-awaited rematch with Jones at UFC 232 in December. Unfortunately, “The Mauler” could not produce the same competitive performance as he did in the original meeting at UFC 165 in September 2013. He suffered a third-round TKO loss to “Bones” in the bout, but vowed afterward to work his way back to a third shot.
That road starts with No. 12-ranked Smith, who is also pursuing another fight with Jones after he lost a unanimous decision at UFC 235 this past weekend. “Lionheart” was on a three-fight winning streak since moving up to 205 pounds prior to the encounter with Jones, but was unable to extend his run to the title.
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