The
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight record books might
be padded a little more after this matchup transpires.
Per the UFC on Friday,
divisional stalwarts Neil Magny
(29-13) and Gunnar
Nelson (19-6-1) will throw down at
UFC 318. The two were
initially booked against one another in 2018, only for a Nelson
injury to scrap the pairing. The UFC is putting them back together
to face off at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on July
19.
The UFC’s 170-pound leader in total fights (34) and wins (22) among
his other accolades is coming into this bout on a rare two-fight
skid, his first since 2013. Those losses came in the form of
first-round knockouts to Michael
Morales and Carlos
Prates. Before the setbacks, “The Haitian Sensation” alternated
wins and losses for a couple years, beating the likes of Max Griffin
and Mike
Malott while falling short to top talents Ian Garry and
Shavkat
Rakhmonov.
Nelson too lays claim to a top record in their division, as his
seven submissions are the most performed at the weight division
since its inception. He achieved that the last time he picked up a
win on the Octagon, tapping Bryan
Barberena with an armbar at UFC 286 in 2023. It has been a
story of inconsistency and inactivity for the talented grappler out
of team Mjolnir, who will be fighting more than once in a calendar
year for the first time since 2019—when he lost two decisions to
Leon
Edwards and Gilbert
Burns. In his last time out, he was on the wrong end of the
scorecards against Kevin
Holland in March.
UFC 318 goes down at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, with
the July 19 headliner coming between Max
Holloway and Dustin
Poirier—at lightweight—for the third time. Other marquee
matchups include a middleweight contest pitting Marvin
Vettori against Brendan
Allen, and a strawweight tilt when Amanda
Ribas faces Tabatha
Ricci.