Gunnar Nelson will return to the Octagon for the first time in a year in March, according to the man he says he is fighting Daniel Rodriguez.
Nelson has fought just once since September 2019, a March 2022 win against Takashi Sato in London and it appears he will make his comeback in the same venue after Rodriguez appeared to confirm that the fight had been agreed in an Instagram post.
Nelson’s win against Sato saw him snap a two-fight losing streak after dropping decisions to both Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns in recent fights. Rodriguez, meanwhile, is 17-3 in his career and 7-2 in his nine fights to date with the UFC. He was most recently seen in the cage losing by submission to Neil Magny in November.
Prior to that, Rodriguez impressed in wins against the likes of Li Jingliang and Kevin Lee.
The addition of Nelson to the UFC London card will stoke some interest in the UK & Ireland given the Icelander’s association with SBG Ireland — though the pay-perv-view event is still lacking some star power. It appears unlikely that the likes of Molly McCann and Tom Aspinall will be available, while the rumoured main event of Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman also appears to be in jeopardy due to Usman’s recovery from recent hand surgery.
Paddy Pimblett has also stated in recent months that he doesn’t expect to fight in the UK for many of his future bouts, despite rumours linking him to a fight with Terrence McKinney on the card — provided McKinney emerges unscathed from a bout later this month at the UFC’s return to Brazil.
