UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson will be absent from the Octagon for the foreseeable future with an ongoing back injury.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN first reported the news sourcing the UFC fighter’s co-manager, Tomas Ghassemi.

According to Ghassemi, Gustafsson has been dealing with a nagging back injury for three-to-four years. The on-again, off-again nature of the pain has been bothersome for Gustafsson and has caused him to take large amounts of time off recently. Now the team has decided to put the issues to an end, but they do not know how long that will take.

The Swede made his return to the Octagon last month in Hamburg, Germany, against Jan Blachowicz. The bout was Gustafsson’s first in nearly a year and he did appear a bit rusty on the feet. Blachowicz was giving him issues striking so Gustafsson responded with takedowns and a heavy top-game, winning by decision.

Want your voice heard? Join the Cage Pages team! Write for us!

Gustafsson made his promotional debut with an unbeaten 8-0 record and seven finishes. After starting his Octagon run with seven wins and just one loss, Gustafsson earned his first title shot by defeating Shogun Rua, which extended his win streak to six.

The matchup with then-champion Jon Jones resulted in one of the greatest fights ever, with the Swede pushing the seemingly unbeatable Jones to the limit for 25 minutes. Gustafsson lost the close decision, but bounced back with a knockout over Jimi Manuwa.

Gustafsson’s momentum was stopped by Anthony Johnson’s fists. However, Gustafsson received a title shot in his next fight after Daniel Cormier needed a challenger for his first title defense. Like the Jones fight, Gustafsson gave the champion a run for his money, and this time one judge gave Gus the nod in the thrilling fight which took place last September.

Gustafsson has pulled out of four fights in his Octagon career. “The Mauler” is ranked third at light heavyweight according to Cage Pages.