After having both 2015 bouts in Las Vegas, Gunnar Nelson (14-2-1) will now be returning to this side of the pond for his next fight. “I’m excited to be fighting in Europe again and on Netherlands first UFC card.” says the Mjölnir / SBG Ireland fighter to MMAViking.com.
The welterweight’s first 15 bouts were all in Europe, including his first five UFC bouts. Nelson won 13 of these bouts, with only a draw in his debut, and a split decision loss in his only UFC headliner in Stockholm in October of 2014 versus American Rick Story.
The UFC has recently announced that the Icelandic grappler will face top striker Albert Tumenov (17-2) on Sunday, May 8th at the UFC’s trip in Holland. The much anticipated matchup will be a featured bout on the main card, headlined by Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem.
Nelson is coming off a decision loss at UFC 194 this past December at the hands of Demian Maia. Prior to this bout, “Gunni” submitted Brandon Thatch in less than three minutes earning MMAViking.com’s 2015 Submission of the Year.
“Albert Tumanov is a very good fighter and I look forward to stepping into the octagon with him.” -Nelson
Tumenov has won five straight bouts, with his only UFC loss coming at the hands of Ildemar Alcantara back in February of 2014. The Russian born fighter now trains out of K Dojo in New Jersey. “Einstein” is only 24 years old, and has experience against Nordic fighters, as he outpointed Nicholas Musoke in January of last year. His last bout was in Las Vegas at UFC 195, where he won a split decision over Lorenz Larkin.
At only 27 years old, Nelson is on the outside looking to get back into the UFC’s top 15 rankings, where Tumenov is sitting at #15.
