Gunnar Nelson will return to the UFC cage in March for his first fight in more than two years.
It was reported on Wednesday that Nelson, 36, will fight Kevin Holland at the UFC’s return to the English capital on March 22 in what will be the Icelander’s comeback to the organisation after an extended layoff following a submission win over Bryan Barbarena in 2023.
Holland, meanwhile, returns after being defeated by submission by Reinder de Ridder at UFC 311 earlier this month.
Nelson — a longtime member of SBG Ireland in Dublin — is one of the UFC welterweight division’s most respected grapplers, having 13 submission victories in his 19 career wins. During his tenure with the organisation he has won an impressive five Performance of the Night bonuses.
Prior to his win over Barbarena, Nelson last fought a year before to that (March 2022) where he scored a three-round unanimous decision win over Japanese 170-pounder Takashi Sato.
As for Holland, he will have a quick turnaround in attempting to overcome his loss to De Ridder against another of the division’s foremost grapplers. He has now lost two straight in the UFC cage, having been defeated by TKO (corner stoppage) by Roman Dolidze.
