Gunnar Nelson is back.
Nelson, who has not fought since September of 2019, is set to return at UFC London on March 19 against Cláudio Silva. The news was first reported by MMA journalist Alfredo Zullino. Several outlets have since confirmed the news. The main event of the UFC London card at the 02 Arena sees Tom Aspinall take on Alexander Volkov.
Gunnar Nelson (17-5-1) last fought at UFC Copenhagen in 2019 where he suffered a decision loss to Gilbert Burns. It was his second loss in a row after dropping a split decision to Leon Edwards at UFC London in Mach of 2019. The Icelandic fighter just recently signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and hinted at a fight being announced soon.
Nelson has been in the UFC since 2012 and is 8-5 inside the Octagon. He holds notable wins over Alex Oliveira, Zak Cummings, Omari Akhmedov, and Alan Jouban among others. He has headlined a UFC event as well but lost by first-round KO to Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Cláudio Silva (14-3) is also riding a two-fight losing streak as he is coming off a loss to Court McGee by decision in May of 2021. His other loss came at the hands of James Krause in October of 2020.
Prior to the setbacks, Silva was on a 14-fight winning streak and was 5-0 in the UFC, including wins over Leon Edwards, Nordine Taleb, and Danny Roberts among others.
With the addition of Nelson vs. Silva at UFC London, the card is as follows:
- Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall
- Arnold Allen vs. Dan Hooker
- Gunnar Nelson vs. Cláudio Silva
- Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento
- Luana Carolina vs. Molly McCann
- Cody Durden vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy
- Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Sergei Pavlovich
Who do you think will win, Gunnar Nelson or Cláudio Silva?
