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Gustafsson wants May date with Teixeira in Stockholm

Alexander Gustafsson has big plans for 2017.

After suffering a heartbreaking loss to light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 192, "The Mauler" got back in the win column this past September with a unanimous decision over Jan Blachowicz. With a two-fight skid and a string of nagging injuries behind him, the 30-year-old now has his sights set on a top billing opposite Glover Teixeira in his native Sweden.

"I don't need to say it, but I'd love that opportunity absolutely," Gustafsson told FloCombat's Jim Edwards. "If I got offered to fight Teixeira in my hometown then I wouldn't need to think - absolutely 100 percent I take that fight.

"It's easy for me. It means a lot fighting in Stockholm. I would have family, friends all coming to watch so it would mean everything. There's nothing like fighting at home."

The pair of former title challengers were booked to headline UFC Fight Night 69 back in June 2015, only for Gustafsson to pull out over a month prior due to injury. The third-ranked Teixeira is coming off a win of his own, having bested Jared Cannonier at UFC 208 earlier this month.

The promotion is reportedly eyeing a return to the Swedish capital in May. Gustafsson has twice entered the Octagon as a headliner in front of his fellow countrymen, first taking a unanimous decision over Thiago Silva in 2012, then suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Anthony Johnson nearly three years later.

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