{"id":106126,"date":"2019-06-01T01:05:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T08:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=106126"},"modified":"2019-05-31T18:12:18","modified_gmt":"2019-06-01T01:12:18","slug":"gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith Headlines UFC Fight Night 153 in Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC is heading to Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday, as hometown hero Alexander Gustafsson takes on Anthony Smith in a battle between two leading light heavyweight contenders for the main event of UFC Fight Night<\/a> 153.<\/p>\n

\"Gustafsson
Alexander Gustafsson (pictured) will take on Anthony Smith in front of a home crowd in Stockholm in the main event of UFC Fight Night 153. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both Gustafsson and Smith have recently lost fights to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones<\/a>, but remain among the top five contenders in the division.<\/p>\n

Gustafsson Wants Win to Prove He Belongs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

That means that while it\u2019s unlikely that either of these fighters will get another shot at Jones in the immediate future, the winner should be able to keep themselves in the title picture.<\/p>\n

For Gustafsson (18-5), the fight might determine the future of his career. Back in March, the Swede told The MMA Hour that losing to Smith could show him that his time as an elite fighter is coming to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good guy with a good team behind him, and this is going to be a real challenge,\u201d Gustafsson said on the show. \u201cIf I don\u2019t beat him, if he beats me, then maybe I don\u2019t have it anymore. So I\u2019ll just take it from there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coming into the fight, Gustafsson has said he\u2019s confident and relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my reward. I don\u2019t care about anything else,\u201d Gustafsson told MMA Junkie. \u201cIt\u2019s just to be able to be in the Octagon, fighting the guy in front of me, that is a reward for me \u2013 and just having fun doing it with a smile on my face. I\u2019m just going to make sure I win every\u2026round there is, just put a beating on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith Looking to Bounce Back<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, Smith (31-14) is hoping that a big performance on Saturday can make up for his disappointing outing against Jones at UFC 235. Smith told The MMA Hour that he\u2019s more worried about how he fights than what the outcome of the bout is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to perform and that\u2019s it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThat\u2019s as far as my mind has gone. After that, we\u2019ll see what happens because it\u2019s not even about Alex, it\u2019s about me. This is about wanting to take a break but I can\u2019t do it with this burning feeling in my stomach. I have this feeling where I just need to destroy something. So whatever happens in the interim, it doesn\u2019t matter to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith certainly has the ability to destroy opponents. He has 17 wins by knockout in his career, and his game plan on Saturday will likely be geared around pressuring Gustafsson by looking to close the distance and land some big strikes. But Smith has shown a vulnerability to takedowns, and with Gustafsson known for having an effective wrestling game, the Swede should have the advantage.<\/p>\n

\n

Bookmakers have made Gustafsson the clear favorite because of that stylistic advantage. Bovada has him listed at -315, with Smith installed as a +245 underdog in the fight.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

UFC Fight Night 153 includes a number of other competitive fights up and down the card. In another light heavyweight matchup, Jimi Manuwa (-160) will take on Aleksandar Rakic (+200), while Featherweights Makwan Amirkhani (-120) and Chris Fishgold (-110) will meet in a fight that is seen as a virtual coin toss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UFC is heading to Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday, as hometown hero Alexander Gustafsson takes on Anthony Smith in a battle between two leading light heavyweight contenders for the main event of UFC Fight Night 153. Both Gustafsson and Smith have recently lost fights to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but remain among the top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":106127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGustafsson vs. Smith Headlines UFC Fight Night 153<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith will square off in a battle of two light heavyweights looking to cement their places as title contenders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gustafsson vs. Smith Headlines UFC Fight Night 153\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith will square off in a battle of two light heavyweights looking to cement their places as title contenders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-01T08:05:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-01T01:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gustafsson-Smith-UFC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4815\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/\",\"name\":\"Gustafsson vs. Smith Headlines UFC Fight Night 153\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gustafsson-Smith-UFC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-01T08:05:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-01T01:12:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith will square off in a battle of two light heavyweights looking to cement their places as title contenders.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gustafsson-vs-smith-headlines-ufc-fight-night-153\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gustafsson-Smith-UFC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gustafsson-Smith-UFC.jpg\",\"width\":4815,\"height\":2705,\"caption\":\"Alexander Gustafsson (pictured) will take on Anthony Smith in front of a home crowd in Stockholm in the main event of UFC Fight Night 153. 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