It’s Official: Alexander Gustafsson is Out of the UFC on Fuel TV 9 Main Event

It is official.  Alexander Gustafsson is out of the UFC on Fuel TV 9 main event against Gegard Mousasi.

Gustafsson received a cut over his eye while sparring in preparation for the scheduled April 6 bout in Stockholm.  The light-heavyweight met with medical professionals today and it was determined that he would not be approved to fight on Saturday.

The Swedish MMA Federation released a statement on Tuesday announcing the news.

“According to SMMAF regulations the competitors in a match shall be examined by the certified appointed match doctor prior to the match. The examination is always carried out the day before the match, this is to safeguard that a competitor shall never be cleared for a match earlier than the day before the match,” the statement read.

“In the case of Alexander Gustafsson there was a request for an early indicative medical examination which was immediately performed on March 30th (Easter Eve). The federation doctors that performed the examination informed Gustafsson that his injury was of such a nature that it was very unlikely that he would be medically cleared for a match in the near future. These doctors did not have a mandate to stop the match at the time of that examination.”

“It is very difficult to see that this will be medically approved on Friday,” Swedish MMA Federation President George Sallfeldt told MMANYTT.se after the initial examination on March 30, adding that Gustafsson wanted to go ahead with the fight, but “this is a medical decision and not up to Alexander himself.”

Doctors on Tuesday officially declared Gustafsson unfit to fight.

“The SMMAF Medical Committee has today reviewed the circumstances regarding Gustafsson and his injury. The SMMAF Medical Committee recognizes that a competitor cannot be medically cleared earlier than the day before the match. However, bearing in mind that a correct medical examination that met the regulatory demands has been performed, nothing in the SMMAF regulations hinders the SMMAF Medical Committee from making a decision to stop Gustafsson from competing.

“As it is clear that Alexander Gustafsson will not be fit to compete as planned and cannot be medically cleared on Friday the 5th of April, the SMMAF Medical Committee has today decided that Alexander Gustafsson will not be allowed to participate in the planned match on April 6,” read the SMMAF statement.

A replacement for Gustafsson has not yet been named.