UFC London Gets Another High-Profile Addition
The upcoming UFC London event which takes place at the 02 Arena on March 22nd has just had another exciting bout added to the card.
The fight card, which is to be headlined by an intruiging contest between former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards and Australian rising star Jack Della Maddalena, is already beginning to take shape with plenty of exciting UK-based names such as Molly McCann, Mick Parkin and Jai Herbert already in the mix.
Other high-profile European stars such as Jan Blachowicz and Marcin Tybura will also be in action at the event, and this week saw the addition of a fascinating bout in the welterweight division.
“Trailblazer” Returning To The Welterweight Division At UFC London
Kevin Holland looks set to bounce back immediately following his first-round submission loss to Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311 just a couple of weeks ago as he takes on Icelandic star Gunnar Nelson.
Holland (26-13 MMA, 13-10 UFC) returns to 170 lbs for this fight following yet another short-lived run in the middleweight division.
“Trailblazer” has bounced between both weight classes continously over the past couple of years. He enjoyed his best run in the UFC when he won five fights in one calendar year back in 2020, all of which took place at 185 lbs.
After struggling with the wrestling and physicality of opponents like Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori, he made the move back down to the welterweight division and eventually found his way into the top 15 in the UFC’s rankings.
He treaded water at 170 lbs for a while. Wins over Santiago Ponzinibbio, Michael Chiesa and Michal Oleksiejczuk were interspersed with defeats to Della Maddalena and Michael “Venom” Page, prompting Holland to test the waters in the middleweight division once again.
A loss to Roman Dolidze in October followed by the recent first-round submission defeat at the hands of de Ridder see the 32-year-old moving back down again, and very possibly fighting to keep his place on the UFC roster.
“Gunni” To Fight In Front Of The Crowd Once Again at UFC London
By the time Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1 MMA, 10-5 UFC) makes the walk to the Octagon on March 22nd, it will have been over two years since the Icelandic star’s last UFC appearance, a first-round submission win over Bryan Barberena at UFC 286 (coincidentally, also in London and also at the 02 Arena).
The 36-year-old made his UFC debut way back in September of 2012 and quickly became a fan favorite as he racked up a plethora of submission wins in the welterweight division.
Nelson, who earlier in his career trained at SBG Ireland alongside a young Conor McGregor, has finished eight of his ten UFC wins by way of submission and is regarded as one of the most dangerous submission grapplers in the sport in recent years.
Nelson has been relatively quiet on the activity front over the past few years, in part due to injury problems. He fought twice in 2019, losing to Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards before spending two-and-a-half years on the sidelines.
He returned in March of 2022, beating Takashi Soto at…yes, you guessed it…UFC London at the 02 Arena. The same venue he submitted Barberena at last year.
UFC London goes down on Saturday, March 22nd at London’s 02 Arena. Check out the fights confirmed for the card so far below.
UFC London Main event: Leon Edwards vs. Jack Della Maddalena (welterweight)
Co-main event: Jan Blachowicz vs. Carlos Ulberg (light heavyweight)
Marcin Tybura vs. Mick Parkin (heavyweight)
Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy (light heavyweight)
Kevin Holland vs. Gunnar Nelson (welterweight)
UFC London Preliminary card:
Shauna Bannon vs. Puja Tomar (strawweight)
Andrey Pulyaev vs. Christian Leroy Duncan (middleweight)
Molly McCann vs. Istela Nunes (strawweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs. Morgan Charriere (featherweight)
Caolan Loughran vs. Nathan Fletcher (bantamweight)
Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Felipe dos Santos (flyweight)
Jai Herbert vs. Chris Padilla (lightweight)