"Thanks for the show, it's over now".

It was after the loss in the Globe on June 1 that Alexander Gustafsson shocked the MMA world with his decision to quit.

Two and a half months have passed since then, and in its first major interview after the message, "The Mauler" tells of the growing craving for a comeback.

- It itches like a damn finger. To put it off was a very impulsive decision and not really well thought out. When I got home after the game, I felt "what a shame the shit is over", but after a few days on the couch I wondered if it was really the right decision. If it was smart of me to throw the gloves in the cage for the whole world.

- I'm such a damn bad loser that it just burned in me. It was sick how bad it hurt. Not physically, but in the soul. I would beat that guy, but it just stuck. It is not such an end to the career I have envisaged, Gustafsson tells SVT Sport.

Nobbat two offers from the UFC

The UFC has contacted the star with two concrete offers for matches, but the Swede has refused. At the same time, Gustafsson is still under contract with the organization.

- I probably have five or six matches left on that contract. I have the right to lay off whenever I want, but there are plenty of matches to take and some good opponents in my weight class that I am hell-bent on testing. Both to test them and myself, he says.

The first offer came two weeks after the loss to Anthony Smith.

- We were a bit taken to bed, I had just retired and was still medically excluded from close contact. That wasn't right at the time, but me and the UFC have had a conversation back and forth. If I make the decision to give this carousel a last chance, it must be done properly.

"Can't watch the match"

Gustafsson points his hand to the heart.

- It has to come from here.

- I've had two and a half months to think about it. I know I've had a lack of motivation on and off, and somewhere in my build-up to matches I've been wrong. I don't know if I've lost my killer instinct, if I've become too comfortable or if I'm too kind. That's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of now, and every week I go and talk to a sports therapist.

The match that became your last, have you looked at it afterwards?

- No, I haven't actually. It's totally sick. I haven't really fixed it. But I have to look at it sometime, he says.

"50 percent chance of comeback"

"The Mauler" does not rule out a comeback already in 2019, but also emphasizes that he has not decided and that he does not want to give his fans high hopes.

- I'm talking like it's going to be a comeback, haha.

Yes, little grand.

- I'll be careful there. I've wanted for two and a half months really. I am not consistent with having quit.

So what am I heading for this?

- Haha, I don't know what to put in the headline. "The Mauler is motivated" maybe. Craving. Hungry.

How likely is a comeback on a percentage scale, 1-100?

- 50.

It sounds like 80.

Gustafsson smiles.

- Yes, you are good craving.

So the show may not be over yet?

- No, I would say that the show is on a break right now.

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Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson: "I'm craving a comeback"