It was rumoured a few days ago but now it is a reality: Gunnar Nelson will make his return to the UFC’s octagon in December, after the organisation revealed that the Icelander will face Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira in a welterweight contest at UFC 231 in Toronto, Canada, on December 8th.
Nelson was due to face Neil Magny in Liverpool last May but a knee injury suffered in training removed him from the bout. He was replaced by English fighter Craig White, who was defeated in the first round by the American fighter.
The SBG Ireland competitor was last seen in action in July of last year where he suffered a quick TKO defeat to Santiago Ponzinibbio. Afterwards, Nelson and his team complained of repeated eye-pokes from his Argentinian opponent, a claim which appeared to be supported by video evidence after the bout.
Toronto continues to heat up!
Oliveira faces @GunniNelson at #UFC231 on Dec 8. pic.twitter.com/GImyXVc7FP
— UFC (@ufc) October 25, 2018
With that in the past, Nelson draws ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira for his return bout. The Brazilian owns a 20-5-1-2 record in professional competition, along with a ledger of 9-3-0-1 in the UFC. His two most recent outings are wins against Carlo Perdesoli Jr and Carlos Condit.
“Fight booked December 8th is locked down against Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira on the UFC 231 show in Toronto,” Nelson wrote on Twitter.
“I have been fighting fit for a while and have really just been waiting for an opponent to sign the dotted line. Thank you Alex for doing that and agreeing to the fight.”
UFC 231 will be headlined by a featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega.
