Nicolas Dalby returns to UFC in Copenhagen | UFC Betting Sites

Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

“Lokomotivo” is back in the big leagues of MMA.

After three years away, Nicolas Dalby is headed back to the Octagon.

Dalby, the Cage Warriors interim welterweight champion, announced Monday on social media that he has re-signed with the UFC and will be competing at UFC Copenhagen on Sept. 28.

Dalby made his UFC debut in 2015, winning a split decision against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. After that, he fought then-future title challenger Darren Till to a draw, but lost his next two fights and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Dalby lost his first fight out of the UFC — a split decision to current UFC fighter Carlo Pedersoli at Cage Warriors 93 in April 2018 — but is now on a four-fight unbeaten streak. He won the Cage Warriors interim belt in March, and most recently had a no contest against Ross Houston in a title unification bout.

In his lengthy post, Dalby spoke about what it means to him to get back to the UFC.

Dalby, who has suffered from depression, took a year and a half off from MMA after he got cut from the UFC. Around the same time he decided to return to the sport, his fiancée found out she was pregnant and Dalby lost his job. Dalby wrote he “knew it was a monumental hurdle WE had to overcome.”

“Somehow we managed to navigate through all above obstacles while my fiancée also found the energy to help me by cooking healthy meals when I was too tired, giving me a shoulder to cry on and picking me up when I had critical moments of self doubt and generally just provided me with all the love and comfort I needed to perform in the gym and the cage,” Dalby wrote. “So getting re-signed means that not was the economic gamble worth it(lost more money that I’ve earned the last year) it also meant that the insane effort WE put into this as a team paid off.”

Dalby’s opponent for the Copenhagen card has not yet been announced. The card is expected to be headlined by a middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and Jared Cannonier.

View this post on Instagram

This is how we looked just after I was told that not only did I get re-signed to @UFC @UFCEurope but that I would also be fighting at #UFCCopenhagen. Besides the obvious happiness from getting that message there’s more to this moment than you might think. As many of you know I’ve had struggles with depression and because of that a lot of drinking. This affected many people in my life but -especially- my fiancé. So 1,5y ago when I decided to not only ‘just’ deal with my depression, but also chose to take up fighting again we found out we were pregnant AND I got fired from my job and suddenly had to find a new one in the middle of fight camp, I knew it was a monumental hurdle WE had to overcome. Besides the double-whammy of getting ready for a fight while already fighting depression we also had to fix the major issues we had in our relationship because of my actions… While also dealing with the fact that we were about to become parents. (Talk about pressure!). To those who don’t know: fighting is not an individual sport even though it could seem like it. Besides training at the right gym and having the right trainers it’s especially important to have a safe haven at home where you can relax and gather energy/focus in between work and training. Somehow we managed to navigate through all above obstacles while my fiancé also found the energy to help me by cooking healthy meals when I was too tired, giving me a shoulder to cry on and picking me up when I had critical moments of self doubt and generally just provided me with all the love and comfort I needed to perform in the gym and the cage. So getting re-signed means that not was the economic gamble worth it(lost more money that I’ve earned the last year) it also meant that the insane effort WE put into this as a team paid off. To me/us it wasn’t just an acknowledgement of how I’ve performed in the cage but also a of how well we overcame adversity together and worked towards this monumental goal it was 1,5y ago. Being able to sign the fight agreement sent to me tonight is something I would not be doing if it wasn’t for my best friend, the woman of my life, my baby-mama, my queen, my everything. I love you always! ??

A post shared by Nicolas “Lokomotivo” Dalby (@dalbymma) on Jul 29, 2019 at 2:50pm PDT