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Ever wondered how you silence 26,000 screaming Swedes? Just knockout their beloved hometown hero.
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson (19-4) just showed the world why he is the scariest striker in the UFC today, finishing Swedish superstar Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson (16-3) with strikes in the first round.
Gustafsson was involved in perhaps the greatest championship fight in UFC history when he faced current champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones (22-1) back in 2013. It was fight many people thought he had won, and the Mauler was heavily tipped to earn a rematch with Jones later this year.
Johnson had other plans, returning to the UFC.
The move up to light heavyweight proved to pay dividends for Rumble, as he entered the octagon coming off a dominating performance against Phil ‘Mr Wonderful’ Davis (13-3) before knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6) in just 44 seconds.
Rumble entered the octagon in Stockholm with over 26,000 people cheering on the man he was facing. He landed a big shot midway through the first round that stunned Gustafsson before the Mauler was forced to turtle up. The referee gave Gustafsson every chance to recover, but too much damage was done.
Both men were classy in victory and defeat, an emotional Gustafsson made no excuses in front of his own fans.
“I felt great… I got caught, that’s it, it happens,” he said.
In other bouts, Gegard Mousasi (36-5, 2NC) showed he still belongs in the title picture, finishing the legend Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson (30-13) with strikes just over one minute into the first round.
Some argue that it was an early stoppage, however president Dana White has claimed he had no problem with the referee’s decision, sharing his thought via Twitter.
Not a bad stoppage the refs are SO SLOPPY. If the ref didn't tackle Mousasi he would have kept that top position Dan would have got smashed
— Dana White (@danawhite) January 25, 2015
In the other main card results, Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader (19-2) continued his climb up the UFC rankings with a split decision win over Phil Davis, and Sam Sicilia also silenced Stockholm with a devastating knockout win over Sweden’s Akira Corassani (12-5, 1NC).
In the preliminaries we were treated to many finishes, but none came as more of a shock than when Makwan ‘Mr Finland’ Amirkhani (11-2) finished Andy ‘The Little Axe’ Ogle (9-6) in just eight seconds in his UFC debut.
Jon Jones versus Anthony Johnson for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship is expected to take place later this year.
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