Roundtable: UFC Sweden Main Event - With or Without Gustafsson

Roundtable: UFC Sweden Main Event
With - Ben Heather - @benheather, Chris Houten - @houts4thewin, & Tommy Stong - @strong_tea

With the recent reports that Alexander Gussafsson suffered a cut in training this weekends main event hangs in the balance, do you think the fight will go ahead as planned?

Ben Heather: I think the UFC will do everything they can to let Gus fight, however if its a cut over his eye as Mousasi said on MMA hour the fight could be stopped in seconds if it gets opened up. Which is also not what the UFC need so in my opinion I don't think it will happen.

Tommy Strong: I agree with you Ben, the UFC will do everything they can to put this fight on. Gustafsson will be desperate to fight in his home country, and The UFC will not want to find a replacement and with no obvious replacement it would be their worst nightmare. Somewhat inflicted by themselves due to a very weak co-main event!!

Chris Houten: I know Dana is saying the fight is still on, Gustafsson still wants to fight, Mousasi is still traveling and so on, but from what I have heard, Gustafsson is look at a heal time of 3 to 4 weeks. The Swedish MMA Federation president George Sallfeldt told Swedish MMA website MMAviking.com earlier today it would be a miracle if Gustafsson healed in time, I just can't see this fight going ahead.

If Gustafsson cant fight on Saturday is there a suitable replacment to fight Mousasi on short notice?

Chris Houten: I say the logical replacement is Jimi Manuwa. To start with he is available, he didn't take any damage in his last fight, and he is the most local light-heavyweight available, therefore would travel better and could cut weight easier than any American or Brazilian would.

The thing you need to consider though with Manuwa is he has always been cautious with his career. If you look at the 2 times he has turned down the chance to sign with the UFC it makes you think he might turned down a tough last minute fight, all be it one which could really propel him into the upper echelon.

Personally I think Mousasi will be pulled from the card and the fight rescheduled.

Ben Heather: In my opinion if Gus can't make the fight this weekend then I would like to see Jimi fight too but the guy can't go from prelims to main card once then headlining but if needed I suppose it could happen.

I think they need to look at the schedule and bring someone in. The next legitimate light heavyweight fight is Phil Davis vs Vinny and that's a month away and I can't see one of them stepping in as they both want that fight with each other!!

So like Chris, I agree if the fight with Gus does not happen then the fight will be pulled and potentially fought again in the future.

Tommy Strong: If Gus isn't fit for Saturday , I really don't see an obvious replacement out there. Maybe Phil Davis who has a fight lined up later in the month with Vinny Magalhaes. If I would like to see the fight rescheduled if it doesn't go ahead. Jimi Manuwa is on paper a great tear up, but as Chris said Jimi is very cautious and taking on such a tough opponent on short notice isn't wise for his career!

Ben Heather: Especially when he still has his undefeated record it could make or break his career.

What will become of UFC on Fuel 9 if a replacement isn't found, and Mousasi is pulled from the card?

Tommy Strong: Really struggling to think of who could headline if the main event is pulled. We have a co-main that quite frankly shouldn't be! Two heavy weights in Matt Mitrione v Phil De Fries in a battle that will see who gets cut, then an actual real ding dong fight in Brad Pickett v Mike Easton!

The UFC have once again shot themselves in the foot not having a back up co main event in case the main card doesn't happen.This is why i see the fight going ahead!

 Chris Houten: Its safe to say Ross Pearson vs Ryan Couture is a pretty disappointing co-main event let alone main event. I guess there is the possibility of adding another fight to this card - The Ultimate fighter final is the week after, and a fight that springs to mind is Browne vs Gonzaga as both guys won't have a weight cutting schedule to keep to, but I don't see it happening.

I say Pearson vs Couture main events the card, and there will be fight which goes down as 'the fight before the main event'. I think the only bonus is the possibility McGregor could be bumped to the main card.

Ben Heather: If the headline fight gets pulled your going to have an arena of Swedish fans who will not be happy with anything other than the original fight which puts everyone in a bad situation.

I think logically on a stacked card the co main would fill the position easily however in this instance that's not the case. Like Tommy said the Pickett vs Easton is the fight I would move up but still its not a main event fight after Picketts loss in his last fight.

For me I think the only thing the UFC can do is put together a one week notice fight or move a fight forward a week or so but in doing so I don't think you will get top guys accept that deal.

So in my opinion its gonna take that big fight to keep the fans happy and I can't see it happening.

Chris Houten: I don' think the Swedish will take it too badly. From what I have seen on twitter they seem pretty happy to just be getting a card. Its a different territory then the UK where even without the UFC sees some pretty big fights put on, and has see some the UFCs top stars. I say they take it on the chin, and end up going home happy, because if we are honest there is some pretty damn good fights on this card with or without Gus.