Gunnar Nelson News

Chris Taylor - March 18, 2023

Tonight’s UFC 286 main card lineup features a welterweight matchup between Gunnar Nelson and Bryan Barberena. Nelson (18-5-1 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since defeating Takashi Sato twelve months ago at UFC London. That victory snapped a two-fight losing skid for ‘Gunni’, as he had previously suffered setbacks to Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards respectively.

Harry Kettle - March 16, 2023

UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson expects Conor McGregor to shine when returning to the Octagon – if he trains properly. It’s been well-documented that Conor McGregor has a pretty tight circle of friends in mixed martial arts. One person who has been there for the majority of his journey is none other than Gunnar Nelson.

Adam D Martin - November 24, 2021

MMA coach John Kavanagh says that he wants to see top welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev fight against his pupil Gunnar Nelson next. Kavanagh, who is of course the longtime head coach of UFC superstar Conor McGregor, took to his social media on Tuesday to make a matchmaking suggestion to the UFC. As far as the coach goes, he believes that a fight between Chimaev and Nelson would make a lot of sense. With the UFC rumored to be holding an event in London in March, Kavanagh believes this would be the ideal situation to hold this potential fight between Chimaev and Nelson. Take a look below at what the coach said about this potential welterweight fight.

Natasha Hooper - October 3, 2019

Fan favorite Gunnar Nelson collided with Gilbert Burns in a welterweight bout at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night Copenhagen event. It marked the second time in a year that the Icelandic warrior had fought in Europe. Gunnar Nelson faced Leon Edwards at UFC London in March and left the Octagon with another loss and a broken orbital bone after receiving a nasty elbow. After healing from his injury and getting back to training, ‘Gunni’ was inked to fight Thiago Alves. However, Alves withdrew due to injury, leaving Gilbert Burns to fill in for the fight.

Chris Taylor - September 28, 2019

A welterweight bout featuring Gilbert Burns taking on Gunnar Nelson co-headlined today’s UFC Copenhagen event in Denmark. Gunnar Nelson (17-4-1 MMA) entered tonight’s event looking to rebound, this after dropping a split-decision to Leon Edwards in his most recent Octagon appearance at March’s UFC London event.

Chris Taylor - September 28, 2019

A welterweight bout featuring Gilbert Burns taking on Gunnar Nelson co-headlines today’s UFC Copenhagen event in Denmark. Gunnar Nelson (17-4-1 MMA) will enter tonight’s event looking to rebound, this after dropping a split-decision to Leon Edwards in his most recent Octagon appearance at March’s UFC London event.

Cole Shelton - September 25, 2019

Gilbert Burns is once again taking a welterweight short notice fight. Back in August, the Brazilian stepped up and took on Alexey Kunchenko and handed him his first loss. Now, on Saturday, at UFC Copenhagen, Burns will take on Gunnar Nelson having had just a week and a half to prepare.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2019

UFC Copenhagen, which is scheduled September 28, finally has its first fight — days after tickets went on sale. This fight, which was recently announced by the promotion on Twitter, will occur in the welterweight division, where long-time Icelandic contender Gunnar Nelson will battle a former title challenger in Brazil’s Thiago Alves.

Cole Shelton - March 17, 2019

Saturday night’s UFC London card was topped by a pair of key welterweight contender bouts. In the main event, Englishman Darren Till was taking on Jorge Masvidal who was returning after over 400 days away from the cage. Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Englishman Leon Edwards was taking on longtime Icelandic contender Gunnar Nelson. Ultimately, Masvidal knocked out Till out cold in the second round while Edwards beat Nelson by split-decision.

Chris Taylor - March 16, 2019

A welterweight contest featuring Gunnar Nelson taking on Leon Edwards served as the co-headliner of today’s UFC London event. Leon Edwards entered today’s bout on a six-fight win streak, his latest being a decision victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone this past June in Singapore.

Chris Taylor - March 16, 2019

A welterweight scrap between perennial division contenders Gunnar Nelson and Leon Edwards served as the co-headliner for today’s UFC London event. Leon Edwards (16-3 MMA) entered tonight’s contest on a six-fight winning streak. In his most recent effort at June’s UFC Singapore event, Edwards defeated Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision.

Drake Riggs - January 16, 2019

Earlier today, the UFC’s return to London, England got its headliners announced. Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal are reportedly set to square off in the evening’s featured attraction. Now we know that the co-main event will also feature the 170-pounders.

Chris Taylor - December 8, 2018

A welterweight bout between Alex Oliveira and Gunnar Nelson took place on the main card of tonight’s UFC 231 event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Gunnar Nelson enters tonight’s contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio this past July in Glasgow, Scotland.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2018

Conor McGregor brought in a lot of top talent to help him prepare for his UFC 229 title fight with undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. One fixture of McGregor’s past training camps that wasn’t a part of these preparations for the Russian champion, however, was Icelandic welterweight contender Gunnar Nelson. Speaking to the media ahead of his UFC 231 fight with Alex Oliveira, Gunnar Nelson explained why he wasn’t a part of Conor McGregor’s training for Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Thomas Taylor - December 1, 2018

At UFC 231, which goes down on December 8 in Toronto, Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon opposite Brazil’s Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira. While Nelson has previously looked a little undersized for the welterweight division, it doesn’t look like that will be a problem anymore. Early on Saturday morning, Gunnar Nelson shared a photo of himself on Twitter, and to say he looks absolutely jacked would be an understatement. This is easily the biggest he’s ever looked.

James Lynch - October 25, 2018

It looks like we’ll finally see Gunnar Nelson back in action this year. ESPN is reporting that the UFC is close to booking a welterweight matchup between Nelson and Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira at UFC 231 on Nov 8.

Chris Taylor - April 28, 2018

Report | Gunnar Nelson injured, forced out of fight with Neil Magny at UFC Liverpool The octagon will invade Liverpool, England on May 27 for the promotions UFC Fight Night 130 event.

Chris Taylor - March 26, 2018

REPORT | Another key welterweight fight in the works for UFC Liverpool The UFC’s welterweight division is finally back in motion as three huge 170-pound matchups were confirmed to be in the works last week.