Gegard Mousasi was never in trouble against late-replacement Ilir Latifi as he earned a unanimous decision over the Swede at UFC on Fuel 9 in Stockholm, Daily Mail reported. Much to the disdain of the home crowd, Alex Gustafsson was forced to withdraw from the main event at just four days’ notice after sustaining a cut in training.

Latifi stepped in but was repeatedly caught by the Dutchman’s jab in the opening round as he was left with swelling under his left eye.

That pattern continued in the second session as Latifi was further exposed. The stand-in failed with an attempted takedown and appeared defenceless against the accurate left hand.

Having failed to trouble his opponent thus far, Latifi never looked like doing so in third round. Mousasi was again allowed to set the pace, peppering his opponent’s face at will on his way to a facile victory. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 in his favor.

'Coming into this fight, I was injured and last week I got a cold. I didn't go berserk,' Mousasi said. 'I thought I had it striking wise, and I took advantage of that. I know he's a wrestler, so I didn't want him to close the distance. I fought smart. Some people lay and pray – so maybe I did a little of that with the standup.'