By the Numbers: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith

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Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith are both coming off title fight losses to Jon Jones and are eager to bounce back. As they prepare to go to war on June 1 at UFC Fight Night 153, read about their career-defining numbers.

Common opponents
Jon Jones

Gustafsson and Smith’s last fights both resulted in losses to Jones. Between the two title challengers, the former performed better. Gustafsson had already met Jones before and many felt he should have won the first time. It went five full rounds, and in the end, a visibly hurt Jones was awarded the unanimous decision victory. In their rematch, Jones systematically picked him apart until referee Mike Beltran had seen enough at 2:02 of round three.

Smith, on the other hand, had no answer for Jones’ masterful performance in their title bout. The champion was even deducted two points for an illegal knee, but it wasn’t enough for Smith to steal the decision.

Mauricio Rua

Gustafsson fought Rua in 2012, more than two years after the latter won the UFC light heavyweight title. In their UFC on Fox 5 encounter, “The Mauler” shut down Rua, using his length and movement to outsmart and outhit the aggressive Brazilian on the way to a unanimous decision win.

As for Smith, he didn’t require three or five rounds in the main event of UFC Fight Night 134 last year. “Lionheart” stopped Rua via strikes at 1:29.

Finishing rate

With 42 stoppages between them, Smith and Gustafsson are both certified finishers. Smith has gathered a total of 31 career wins with 28 stoppages, making for a 90 percent finishing rate. He has 17 wins by KO or TKO and 11 by submission. Gustafsson, for his part, has collected 18 professional victories, 14 of which came via stoppage. He holds 11 wins by KO or TKO and three wins by submission, for a 78 percent finishing rate.

Wins by submission

As aforementioned, Smith owns 11 victories by submission, and this could spell the difference in their upcoming bout. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and, judging by the number of their submission wins, is clearly the more well-rounded between the two light heavyweights. His victims inside the Octagon are Victor Moreno, Andrew Kapel, Tim Williams and Volkan Oezdemir.

Gustafsson only has three submission wins, two of which happened inside the Octagon. He choked out Cyrille Diabate and James Te Huna at UFC 120 and UFC 127, respectively. His other submission victory came in his professional debut, in which he choked out Saku Heikkola.

UFC losses

Gustafsson started his UFC career in 2009 with a victory over Jared Hamman. For his next bout, he was submitted by Phil Davis, marking his first professional loss. Later on, he also bowed to Anthony Johnson, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones twice.

It was only in 2016 when Smith entered the UFC, and just like Gustafsson, he won his promotional debut and dropped his second. He’s had three losses inside the Octagon, and these were to Cezar Ferreira, Thiago Santos and Jones.