Swedish mixed martial artist Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson (16-2) wants his UFC opponent on FOX main event Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (18-4) to be drug tested before their scheduled fight.
Without naming Johnson of wrongdoing, Gustafsson said he just wants Johnson to be subjected to the same type of drug testing he himself already has undergone. During the so-called out of competition period, Sweden was tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) leading up to his January 24 bout against Johnson.
Alexander Gustafsson posted that a request from Sweden has been sent to US Anti-Doping commission to come and test him. The Swedish MMA fighter said this is the way it is done in Sweden, no matter where you are, you are under control which he really appreciates, and he wants his sport to be clean so everyone compete under the same terms. Gustafsson added therefore, he would like to request that the same tests applies to his competitor Rumble Johnson and he wants us both to show the world that we are clean top athletes competing in the UFC on equal terms.
In a recorded video statement, the Swedish mixed martial artist said he just got tested by USADA and he is thankful for them coming here and doing the test.
UFC was earlier planning to conduct its own out-of-competition, year-round drug testing program but its president Dana White recently remarked that was no longer the case as the UFC had “no business” jumping head first into the regulatory business. White said we have no business doing drug testing but did remarked that the UFC will fund the efforts of different regulatory bodies that sanction events around the globe so that they can do more and better drug testing.
Gustafsson is presently signed with the UFC in its light heavyweight division. Alexander Gustafsson is the #1 contender in official UFC light heavyweight rankings as of January 17, 2014. He is ranked the #2 light heavyweight in the world by Sherdog and is ranked the #15 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by the UFC as of January 5, 2015.
Gustafsson is best known for his killer instinct, powerful striking, and the reckless ways by which he finishes his fights. Gustafsson started training in boxing in 1996 and started training Mixed Martial Arts in 2006. The Swedish mixed martial artist made his UFC debut on November 14, 2009 at UFC 105 against Jared Hamman by winning the bout via KO at 0:41 in the first round. In his next fight, Gustafsson lost via submission because of an anaconda choke to tap out at 4:55 of the first round.
At UFC 120, Gustafsson was scheduled to face MMA and kickboxing veteran Cyrille Diabaté and trained with notable UFC fighters like Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz, Brandon Vera, Joey Beltran, and Travis Browne. Gustafsson defeated Diabate via submission (rear-naked choke) in the second round. After the fight, Gustafsson said that the main reason for his success against Cyrille Diabaté as the time that he spent at Alliance MMA in the training camp for a month.
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