Gustafsson ‘very frustrated’ with injury that led to UFC 227 withdrawal

Alexander Gustafsson is ‘very frustrated’ with having to pull out of UFC 227 at the last minute.

It was announced on Sunday that top-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson had been forced to withdraw from UFC 227 due to a ‘minor injury’, and the Swede is ‘very frustrated’ with the way things have played out over the last couple of days.

Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Monday, ‘The Mauler’ expressed his frustration with the ‘crazy’ events that led to his withdrawal from next month’s pay-per-view, claiming that he was forced out of his matchup with Volkan Oezdemir because of a ‘sh-ty’ and insignificant injury.

“Well I can tell you that I’ve been very frustrated, these couple of days,” Gustafsson said, per BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor. “It doesn’t go my way, really. It’s just crazy.”

“It’s just a minor injury. It’s nothing to talk about really. It’s just a [expletive] thing, and it gets on my nerves. But it is was it is. I’m here now, and I’ll do everything in my power to bounce back, and I will in a couple of weeks.”

Gustafsson’s team claims that doctors from the athletic commission ultimately made the decision to pull him from the Aug. 4 PPV, days before Anthony Smith called out the two-time light heavyweight title challenger after his knockout win over ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC Fight Night 134.

Gustafsson elaborated further on the unfortunate events that led to his removal from UFC 227, claiming that he was in the best shape of his life before being struck by injury last week.

“It’s been frustrating. I don’t know what’s going on. I feel like I don’t have any flow right now. It’s just [expletive] crazy, I’m telling you, I’m so frustrated because this was my card, this was my fight, then Volkan fell off. It was a fight that really motivated me, to fight Volkan. It’s the best fight for me, and it makes the most sense. I felt great fighting him. Then he got injured, and you know, it is what it is. [Expletive] happens.”

“I’m in the best shape of my life, and then I got injured. I get injured from nowhere. It’s just crazy, that’s all I can say to you.”

Two-division champion Daniel Cormier, who beat Gustafsson via split decision in 2015, isn’t convinced with the Swede’s story and called him ‘entitled’ and ‘delusional’ in a recent Instagram post.

As stated in the interview with Helwani, Gustafsson will look to bounce back in a couple of weeks.

UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2 takes place next month, August 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.