Alexander Gustafsson tied to Jon Jones, whether he likes it or not

It's kind of odd that Alexander Gustafsson has no interest in talking about Jon Jones, because if it weren't for his connection to the UFC light heavyweight champion, Gustafsson would have a significantly lower profile.

Gustafsson faces Anthony Johnson in a title eliminator on Saturday in Stockholm, Sweden, with the winner getting the next crack at Jones.

Gustafsson already had one shot, and lost a razor-thin decision that many believe he deserved to win.

The bout was one of the great matches in UFC history, a back-and-forth battle that Jones eventually claimed by doing what champions do and raising his game down the stretch when it mattered the most.

Sometimes, a fighter raises his profile while losing and comes out of the fight with a greater reputation than he went into it holding. That unquestionably is true of Gustafsson.

The UFC was mocked pre-fight for the angle it took in promoting the Jones-Gustafsson match. The pitch was that in the 6-foot-5 Swede, Jones was finally meeting a guy his own size.

Jones was running roughshod at the time over the best of the best in the UFC, manhandling a collection of former champions and top opponents, many of whom one day will likely wind up in the UFC's Hall of Fame.

And so not many thought Gustafsson had a shot. There probably weren't a lot of people inside the UFC who believed in him. So the size angle was played up.

Wouldn't you know it, though, that it turned out that the size was a factor, that Gustafsson's reach enabled him to do things others had been unable to do.

In the eyes of a solid percentage of the fan base, Gustafsson is the uncrowned light heavyweight king. Muhammad Ali used to wear a robe with the words, "The People's Champ," emblazoned across the back when he did not hold a title belt. And no one would blame Gustafsson for doing the same.

You learn all you need to know about how good Gustafsson really is by the way other fighters call him out. They know he's an elite talent and that beating him would be a big deal, so they seek a match with him.

Gustafsson, though, calls the fight with Johnson, which will be broadcast on Fox on Saturday and held in front of 30,000 or more fans at Stockholm's Tele2 Arena, one of the highlights of his career. Gustafsson and Johnson will get into the cage at around 3:15 a.m. Stockholm time to accommodate the American television broadcast, where it will be shown in prime time.

Because of the significance of the fight and the large crowd that will attend, Gustafsson is treating the bout as if it were a championship fight.

"It's not a title fight, but it's a highlight of my career to be getting this opportunity, that's for sure," Gustafsson said.

Gustafsson has only fought once since losing to Jones, a second-round stoppage of Jimi Manuwa on March 8. That fight was streamed on the UFC's digital service, FightPass, and so it didn't get the viewership that a bout on television would have gotten. FightPass was in its infancy at that point and the subscription levels still hadn't begun to climb.

So Saturday's bout against Johnson will be many fans' first opportunity to see him since his loss to Jones, and he insists they'll be amazed by what they see.

"I don't even think it's close, I'm a much better fighter in every way [than I was against Jones in 2013]," Gustafsson said. "From a mental perspective, I understand what it takes and I'm calmer and more confident. I know myself much more now as an athlete and as a person.

"This sport is evolving so quickly. You have to get better or you'll be left behind and losing ground. And so I've worked very hard and I think you'll see that I'm a much better fighter than I was. I can't wait to fight an elite guy like Anthony and show that."

He'll face a vastly different challenge in Johnson than he did against Jones. Johnson has the kind of one-punch knockout power that not even Jones himself owns.

Gustafsson described Johnson as "a train always coming down the tracks at you" and noted he's dangerous at every minute of the fight.

But there is a calm about Gustafsson that suggests he believes that for all the danger Johnson presents, he knows he has the tools to deal with it.

The experience of the title shot and the chance to prove himself against one of the sport's greatest-ever talents have done a lot for his belief in his ability.

"The Jones fight stayed with me for a few days and then I moved on, but it's all anyone seems to want to talk to me about," he said. "I know that's going to come up again and again, and so I do what I have to do. But I'm ready for the next part of my career and I have a lot of things I want to do."

He's going to get the opportunity in front of a packed house of his partisan countrymen, as well as millions of MMA fans around the world.

But if he defeats Johnson, particularly impressively, he had better gird himself for another series of questions about Jon Jones.