UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson finally has a new opponent for the upcoming UFC London card on March 19.
News of the booking was first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Takashi Sato will fill in for the injured Claudio Silva on 11 days’ notice against Nelson. Sato hasn’t fought in the Octagon since his submission loss to Miguel Baeza in November 2020.
Nelson has also spent a considerable amount of time away from MMA competition. He’s slated to make his first walk to the Octagon since his loss to former title challenger Gilbert Burns in September 2019. He’s lost back-to-back fights to Burns and Leon Edwards.
Nelson’s last win came against Alex Oliveira at UFC 231, submitting Oliveira in the second round. He’s also picked up wins over Albert Tumenov and Alan Jouban over his recent stretch of fights.
Nelson will get a tough assignment against the short-notice replacement Sato. While Sato has lost two of his last three UFC fights, he’s an accomplished striker and could give Nelson plenty of headaches on the feet.
Nelson is mostly known for his grappling, as he’s demonstrated in past wins over Omari Akhmedov and DaMarques Johnson. Sato has earned gruesome knockouts over the likes of Jason Witt and Ben Saunders in the UFC.
The UFC London card is set to be headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov, though it’s still unclear if the main event and the Russian Volkov will be impacted by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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