By Gareth A Davies
The Daily Telegraph
Ilir Latifi, a Swedish wrestler and training partner of injured Alex Gustafsson, has been brought in to headline against Gegard Mousasi at the UFC event Saturday in Stockholm, Sweden.
Latifi is one of Gustafsson’s main training partners, and has trained at the Blackzillians with Rashad Evans.
He is a national Swedish wrestling champion, and is one of the top-ranked Swedish fighters in the world, with a record of 7-2-1. Latifi fights out of Sweden, but has Albanian heritage.
With the Ericsson Globe Arena sold out on Saturday night, the Swedish crowd needed some good news. Latifi had hinted at it on March 31. He wrote on his Facebook page: “I would love to fight Gegard Mousasi in UFC Sweden! Give me the shot!.”
Watch Saturday’s UFC event in Sweden on Sportsnet at 2 p.m. ET. Also, catch preliminary fights starting at 10:50 a.m. ET on sportsnet.ca.
The MMAViking.com website ranks Latifi as the No. 2 Nordic fighter behind Gustafsson.
