UFC welterweight contender Gunnar Nelson won’t be able to fight Neil Magny at UFC Liverpool due to a knee injury.
Popular UFC welterweight submission specialist Gunnar Nelson was supposed to fight Neil Magny at next month’s card in Liverpool, England, but he was forced to withdraw due to injury. It’s been nine months since Nelson’s last appearance inside the Octagon, and now fans will have to wait a little longer for his return.
After news broke of Nelson’s injury, Gunnar released a statement on his Facebook page, and included his timetable for recovery.
Unfortunately I have to withdraw from my fight against Neil Magny on May 27th in Liverpool. Last weekend I injured my knee. I will undergo an operation right away and I´ll be out for 8-10 weeks. I’m sorry to my family, my opponent, my teammates, the fans and the UFC.
This is a huge blow to me and I’m at a loss for words to describe the disappointment I am feeling. I was really feeling up for this fight, the training camp was going great and everything was just perfect until this happened. When all is said and done this is the fight business and injuries are sometimes an unfortunate part of it given the physical rigors us athletes put our bodies through. I will keep on evolving as a fighter while I’m on the sidelines and I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Nelson (16-3-1) is coming off a KO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Glasgow last July. His most recent win was a guillotine choke of Alan Jouban at UFC London in March 2017. Nelson’s only other defeats in his career are against Rick Story and Demian Maia, but all of his losses have come within his last six fights. Current UFC welterweight rankings have Nelson at #12.
UFC officials are currently looking for a replacement opponent to take on Magny. The main event of that card is another welterweight bout, as two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson takes on Liverpool’s own Darren Till.