JRE MMA Show #23 with Alexander Gustafsson
Alexander Gustafsson (guest), Joe Rogan (host)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Alexander Gustafsson and Joe Rogan, JRE MMA Show #23 with Alexander Gustafsson explores alexander Gustafsson Talks Comeback, Jon Jones, Hunting, And Legacy Alexander Gustafsson joins Joe Rogan to discuss recovering from major shoulder surgery, his evolution as a fighter, and the current chaos in the UFC light heavyweight division.
Alexander Gustafsson Talks Comeback, Jon Jones, Hunting, And Legacy
Alexander Gustafsson joins Joe Rogan to discuss recovering from major shoulder surgery, his evolution as a fighter, and the current chaos in the UFC light heavyweight division.
He reflects on career-defining fights with Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Anthony Johnson, emphasizing his obsession with constant improvement and his belief that he can beat both Jones and DC.
Gustafsson explains how his footwork-centric style, training environment in Sweden, and tight relationship with coach Andreas Michael have elevated his game.
Outside the cage, he talks about his passion for hunting, eating only wild game, and using time in nature to balance the mental strain of elite competition.
Key Takeaways
Injury rehab can be used to sharpen the rest of your game.
Gustafsson’s shoulder and collarbone injury forced a six‑month layoff, during which he focused on boring but essential rehab, footwork, and conditioning; he came out of it feeling 100% and even more committed to his movement-heavy style.
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Footwork and conditioning are Gustafsson’s core competitive advantages.
He identifies movement and footwork as his “key thing,” noting that in the Glover Teixeira fight he could have fought ten rounds with the same pace because he stayed out of range, hit, and exited instead of trading in the pocket.
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Elite fighters are relentlessly self-critical and never satisfied.
Gustafsson repeatedly critiques his own performances, saying he always wants to improve, often has to “take a beating first before I win,” and still fixates on tactical mistakes against DC and Jones despite those fights being classics.
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The right coach and training environment are career-defining.
He credits coach Andreas Michael’s old-school, brutally hard but smart programming—and a deep trust-based relationship—for his development, alongside high-level partners like Phil Davis, Jimi Manuwa, Ilir Latifi, and a steady influx of tough Russian wrestlers.
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Diet and lifestyle choices can directly support performance and recovery.
Gustafsson eats almost exclusively wild game he hunts himself, arguing it’s nutritionally superior to farmed meat and leaves him energized rather than sluggish; he also avoids sugar because he gains weight quickly when he eats it.
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Time away from the sport is essential for mental longevity.
Despite being a top contender, he rarely watches fights outside of his division, using hunting, hiking, and family time as deliberate distance from the constant competitiveness of MMA to preserve motivation and clarity.
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He views beating Jon Jones as more meaningful than just winning the belt.
Gustafsson says that defeating Jones—whom he calls a “beast” and the true measure of greatness—would be bigger than capturing the title itself, and he wants another shot at both Jones and Cormier, believing he now has the style to beat them.
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Notable Quotes
“Movement and footwork – this is my key thing. This is it.”
— Alexander Gustafsson
“Beating Jon Jones is bigger than taking the belt right now.”
— Alexander Gustafsson
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? So I just kept working on it.”
— Alexander Gustafsson
“Having the right coach is the key basically. That’s the key.”
— Alexander Gustafsson
“With all this happening, you don’t even think of what [Conor’s] been doing in the Octagon.”
— Alexander Gustafsson
Questions Answered in This Episode
If Gustafsson gets another shot at Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier, what specific tactical changes would you expect him to implement based on this conversation?
Alexander Gustafsson joins Joe Rogan to discuss recovering from major shoulder surgery, his evolution as a fighter, and the current chaos in the UFC light heavyweight division.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How much of a performance edge do you think a wild-game-based diet and hunting lifestyle can actually give a professional fighter compared to conventional nutrition?
He reflects on career-defining fights with Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Anthony Johnson, emphasizing his obsession with constant improvement and his belief that he can beat both Jones and DC.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
In a division on hold due to champions moving weight classes and suspensions, how should contenders like Gustafsson strategically manage their careers and activity levels?
Gustafsson explains how his footwork-centric style, training environment in Sweden, and tight relationship with coach Andreas Michael have elevated his game.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What does Gustafsson’s emphasis on footwork and conditioning say about how the light heavyweight meta-game has evolved compared to previous eras of the division?
Outside the cage, he talks about his passion for hunting, eating only wild game, and using time in nature to balance the mental strain of elite competition.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How important is it for elite athletes to cultivate non-sport passions, like hunting for Gustafsson, to maintain long-term mental health and motivation?
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Transcript Preview
... come down here on hunting sometimes.
Yeah, man. Come down. A lot of wild pigs out here. Alexander Gustafsson, ladies and gentlemen, we're live. Good to see you, buddy. What's happening?
It's good to be here. I'm good. I'm good.
You, uh, you just recovering from shoulder surgery?
Yeah.
Did you have shoul- What'd you have done?
Uh, I was wrestling. I was in practice. I got, I got taken down, believe it or not. (laughs) And...
(laughs)
And I got, I got actually slammed. And, and I landed on ... I was, I was like trying to post my arm.
Mm-hmm.
And I was slammed, so just felt something in my shoulder basically and it didn't hurt at first. I was trying to stand up and then I felt it was just a mess in there. And after that, I went to hospital and from there I've been, I've been rehabbing.
So what-
I got a plate inside.
Oh, wow, a plate?
Yeah, I took it out now in like, uh, end of last year. But I had a plate for a couple of months, yeah.
What was the extent of the injury?
Uh, nothing was broken. It was more like the collarbone just, just, uh-
Dislocated?
Dislocated, ripped apart from my shoulder.
Yeah.
So they had to put it back in, put the plate on, three screws down. That's the first real injury I had for my whole career.
Oh.
I had bruises, stitches, and all that. But this is the first real, has some problem with my back, but-
Pull this thing right in front of your mou- your face there so it's-
Sorry. If you, like this?
Yeah. There you go.
Like this?
It's under your Viking beard, it's getting muffled up.
Oh. (laughs)
(laughs) So where there tendons torn or ligaments or like-
Yeah, ligaments, ten- all, everything just torn apart.
Wow, so they stitched it all back together again, put a plate in there.
Yeah, yeah. And now I just been, I've been rehabbing. I feel fine, I'm 100% now so I'll be ... I'm, I'm in training. So a couple-
So how many months was it?
Wow, this happened in August and, uh, um, yeah, I took away the plate end of last, last year and I've been rehabbing for a couple of months. So yeah, I have six months totally maybe.
Oh, yes, I was... When you grabbed the bow and you were pulling it back, I'm like, "Maybe I shouldn't have him do that," 'cause-
(laughs)
That's like, you know, that, that kind of movement is like bench pressing-
Yeah, but I'm fine now. I'm good, I'm good, um, it's all good.
You know. That's good.
But that, that bow was powerful though.
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