UFC Fight Night 153: Gustafsson vs. Smith | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Stockholm — Gustafsson’s Hometown Farewell

3. Quick Stats

4. Main Event: Smith’s R4 RNC & Gustafsson’s Retirement

5. Rakic’s KO & Manuwa’s Retirement, Amirkhani’s Return & The Card

6. Full Results

7. Bonuses & Awards

8. Records & Milestones

9. Legacy & Impact

10. FAQ

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Introduction

UFC Fight Night 153: Gustafsson vs. Smith took place on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden — broadcast live on ESPN+ as ESPN+ 11. The card drew 14,319 fans for a gate of $2,000,000. The main event was a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Smith, both fighting fresh off title fight losses to Jon Jones.

Smith submitted Gustafsson with a rear-naked choke in round four. After the fight, Gustafsson left his gloves inside the octagon in Stockholm — a symbolic retirement announcement in his home city. In the co-main event, Aleksandar Rakic knocked out Jimi Manuwa in under a minute of round one. After his loss, Manuwa also announced his retirement — making Stockholm the first UFC event in history to produce two LHW retirements on the same card. Anthony Smith, Aleksandar Rakic, Makwan Amirkhani, and Leonardo Santos each earned Performance of the Night. No Fight of the Night was awarded.

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Stockholm — Gustafsson’s Hometown Farewell

Ericsson Globe holds approximately 16,000 for events. The 14,319 attendance and $2,000,000 gate reflected Sweden’s deep commercial enthusiasm for Gustafsson — the country’s first UFC title challenger and the fighter whose Jon Jones fight at UFC 165 in 2013 had been described as the greatest LHW title fight in UFC history. Smith was also coming from a Jon Jones title fight — UFC 235 in March 2019, where Jones had beaten him by TKO in round four. Two fighters defined by their Jones losses met in Stockholm.

Gustafsson was 32 years old at Stockholm, with four defeats in his final six fights. He had gone from the Jones fight at UFC 165 (a decision loss) to the Jones rematch at UFC 232 (a TKO loss by ground and pound) while building a reputation as the UFC LHW division’s most commercially beloved non-champion. His Stockholm appearance before his home city crowd produced the retirement moment that his career had been building toward for years.

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Quick Stats

📅 Date: Saturday, June 1, 2019 (ESPN+ 11; Ericsson Globe Stockholm)

📍 Venue: Ericsson Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden

👥 Attendance: 14,319

💰 Gate: $2,000,000

📺 Broadcast: ESPN+ 11 (ESPN+ streaming; ESPN2 prelims)

🏆 Main Event: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith — LHW (5 rounds; BOTH coming off Jones title fight losses; Gustafsson fought Jones twice; Smith fought Jones at UFC 235 March 2019)

✅ Result: Smith def. Gustafsson via Submission (RNC) — R4 (PoN $50k; Gustafsson LEFT GLOVES IN CAGE — RETIREMENT; 14,319 Stockholm crowd witnessed their hero’s farewell)

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Main Event: Smith’s R4 RNC & Gustafsson’s Retirement

Gustafsson’s first two rounds were passive: he moved around the octagon throwing slapping leg kicks and occasional jabs, committing his weight to few strikes. The Stockholm crowd’s energy — 14,319 fans supporting the hometown fighter — could not produce the offensive commitment that his previous Jones fights had. Smith’s forward pressure and physical aggression controlled the exchanges, with Gustafsson’s movement preventing Smith from closing the distance for the first two rounds.

Round four produced Gustafsson’s lazy takedown attempt — the positional error that gave Smith the back-take opportunity. Smith’s rear-naked choke application was determined: Gustafsson’s attempts to shake him off were sustained before Smith sank the choke tight enough to force the stoppage. After the fight, Gustafsson walked to his corner, picked up his gloves, and left them inside the octagon — the traditional gesture of retirement. The Stockholm crowd’s response to the moment was one of the most emotionally resonant fight-night crowd reactions of the 2019 season.

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Rakic’s KO & Manuwa’s Retirement, Amirkhani’s Return & The Card

Aleksandar Rakic’s first-round KO of Jimi Manuwa was the co-main event’s result — and Manuwa’s Stockholm loss prompted him to announce his own retirement. Manuwa had suffered four consecutive UFC losses entering Stockholm. His career had produced multiple bonus-earning performances at UFC events in London and Birmingham; his Stockholm loss to Rakic was described by media as his final competitive appearance. The Stockholm card thus produced two LHW retirements on the same evening — the main and co-main event fighters both ending careers in the same arena.

Makwan Amirkhani’s submission of Chris Fishgold at 2:47 of round two was his first UFC finish since 2016 — a three-year gap that had included losses and competitive inconsistency. Amirkhani was a 30-year-old Kurdistan-born, Finnish-raised featherweight who had previously become famous for a 8-second debut KO at UFC Fight Night 72 in Glasgow in 2015. His Stockholm submission PoN — in the Scandinavian cultural neighbourhood of his training region — was a commercially resonant individual performance for the Nordic UFC audience.

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Full Results

Main Card (ESPN+)

Anthony Smith def. Alexander Gustafsson — Submission (RNC) — R4 — LHW (PoN $50k; GUSTAFSSON RETIRED — LEFT GLOVES IN CAGE in Stockholm hometown; R4 lazy TD attempt → Smith back control → RNC)

Aleksandar Rakic def. Jimi Manuwa — KO — R1, under 1:00 — LHW (PoN $50k; MANUWA RETIRED after 4th consecutive loss; Rakic LHW career build; future LHW interim title challenger!)

Makwan Amirkhani def. Chris Fishgold — Submission (choke) — R2, ~2:47 — FW (PoN $50k; Amirkhani FIRST FINISH IN 3+ YEARS; Kurdish-Finnish FW in Scandinavian home crowd)

Christos Giagos def. Damir Hadzovic — Unanimous Decision — LW

Leonardo Santos def. [opponent] — LW (PoN $50k; Santos finish quality earned bonus)

Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)

Various Swedish/European regional fighters and UFC development prospects on preliminary card

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Bonuses & Awards

🥇 Fight of the Night: NOT AWARDED

🥇 Performance of the Night: Anthony Smith + Aleksandar Rakic + Makwan Amirkhani + Leonardo Santos — $50,000 each (4 PoN; no FotN)

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Records & Milestones

• Stockholm produced two simultaneous LHW retirements (Gustafsson + Manuwa) — the first UFC event to record dual same-division retirements on the same card.

• Gustafsson retired as Sweden’s most decorated UFC fighter — 18-6 with two UFC LHW title fights against Jon Jones.

• Amirkhani’s first UFC submission finish since his 8-second KO debut in 2015 — three years of individual finishing drought ended.

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Legacy & Impact

Smith’s Stockholm win extended his LHW career into additional title contender conversations, with subsequent fights against Glover Teixeira (loss), Jimmy Crute (win), and Devin Clark (win) before a title shot loss to Jon Jones at UFC 235 re-established his top-five LHW position. Gustafsson’s Stockholm gloves-left-in-the-cage retirement was reversed within months: he returned in 2020 for fights against Anthony Rumble Johnson and Fabricio Werdum before ultimately retiring in 2023.

Rakic’s Stockholm KO of Manuwa launched the LHW career phase that produced wins over Volkan Oezdemir, Thiago Santos, and Anthony Smith before the interim LHW title fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC Fight Night 206 in May 2022, where Rakic suffered a knee injury and the fight was stopped. Manuwa’s Stockholm retirement was his final UFC competitive appearance after a career defined by multiple UFC London bonus performances.

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FAQ

What was the gloves-in-cage retirement gesture?

Leaving gloves inside the octagon after a fight is a recognised symbolism of retirement in MMA — the fighter leaving behind the tool of their craft inside the arena where they competed. Gustafsson’s Stockholm gloves symbolically completed his career narrative: two Jon Jones title fights, the first one described as the greatest LHW title fight in UFC history, and a retirement inside the Ericsson Globe in his home capital. The gesture produced an immediate emotional response from the 14,319 Stockholm crowd.

What made Stockholm so significant for Gustafsson?

Gustafsson was born in Arboga, Sweden and trained at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm. His UFC LHW career was the most prominent combat sports career in Swedish MMA history. The Ericsson Globe had hosted the first UFC event in Sweden in April 2012. The Stockholm crowd’s response to Gustafsson — 14,319 fans who had followed his career from its early wins through two Jones title fights and multiple top-five LHW competitive results — produced the most emotionally charged individual retirement reception in Swedish UFC history.

What was Smith’s position after Stockholm?

Smith was 32 years old after Stockholm, with his career having produced the Shogun KO at FN134, the Oezdemir RNC at FN138, the Gustafsson RNC at FN153, and a UFC LHW title fight loss to Jones at UFC 235. His four consecutive LHW wins before the Jones fight had transformed him from a middleweight journeyman to a legitimate title challenger. His Stockholm win over Gustafsson extended that narrative and positioned him for additional top-five LHW opportunities.

What was Manuwa’s career summary?

Manuwa was a 39-year-old London-born LHW who had competed in the UFC since 2013. His career had produced UFC London knockout bonuses, a UFC LHW title fight appearance, and the personality that made him one of the UFC’s most recognised British personalities from the 2013-2016 era. His Stockholm loss to Rakic was his fourth consecutive UFC loss — to Volkan Oezdemir, Glover Teixeira, Corey Anderson, and Aleksandar Rakic sequentially. His 23-8 professional career included 22 KO/TKO wins.

Who was Aleksandar Rakic before Stockholm?

Rakic was a 26-year-old Vienna, Austria LHW of Serbian origin who had gone 11-1 professionally before Stockholm. His UFC career had produced wins over Justin Ledet in Adelaide (FN142) and Paul Craig. His Stockholm co-main KO of Manuwa was his most commercially prominent individual result: stopping a former UFC LHW title challenger in under a minute. His subsequent LHW career went 4-0 before the Prochazka interim title fight knee injury.

What was Amirkhani’s career context at Stockholm?

Amirkhani was a 30-year-old Kurdistan-born, Finnish-raised FW based in Stockholm’s Allstars Training Center — the same gym as Gustafsson. His UFC career had included the famous 8-second debut KO at UFC Glasgow in July 2015 before a series of competitive results without the finish quality. His Stockholm submission PoN of Fishgold at approximately 2:47 of round two was his return to the finishing quality that his debut had established. Fighting in the same arena as his training home — before a Scandinavian crowd familiar with his career — gave the PoN additional local resonance.

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References

UFC Fight Night 153: Gustafsson vs. Smith — Wikipedia

UFC Fight Night 153 — Tapology