Latest news with #GunnarNelson
Forbes
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC 318 Holloway Vs. Poirier 3 Loses Veteran Matchup To Injury
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 21: Gunnar Nelson of Iceland poses on the scale during the UFC Fight Night ... More ceremonial weigh-in at The O2 on March 21, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Zuffa LLC Gunnar Nelson was set to fight twice in the same year for the first time since 2019 when he was matched up against Neil Magny for a UFC 318 scrap. That welterweight fight, which was to take place on the preliminary card of the Holloway vs. Poirier 3 headlined event, is off after Nelson suffered a hamstring injury that will leave him unable to compete on July 19 from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Forbes UFC Announces Main Card For UFC 318 PPV: Holloway Vs. Poirier 3 By Trent Reinsmith Nelson (19-6-1) fought for the first time in over two years in March when he faced Kevin Holland at the 02 Arena in London on a UFC Fight Night card. Holland won that fight, beating Nelson via unanimous decision. The loss ended Nelson's two-fight winning streak. Octagon Update was the first to report the news of Nelson's withdrawal from the figh card. Magny (29-13) is riding the first two-fight losing skid of his career since he dropped back-to-back fights to Sergio Moraes and Seth Baczynski in 2013. Magny, who has been with the UFC since that same year, has been knocked out in the first round his past two trips to the Octagon, falling to Michael Morales in August 2024 and Carlos Prates in November 2024. Before those losses, Magny was on a 4-3 run, alternating wins and losses in those seven contests. 'Maybe some of you have heard. I've had to withdraw from my fight with Neil Magny on July 19 due to a hamstring injury,' Nelson said on social media. 'I won't get into any crazy details about the injury but I'll tell you it's a two-part injury, so there is a tear in one of the muscles in the hamstring, which is a Grade 2b injury. It's not too bad, so it's possibly something that we could have worked with. 'However, the second injury is on the tendon inside the muscle, which is a full thickness tear, so a Grade 4c injury and that's a more serious one. Basically, I'm absolutely useless when it comes to any type of grappling scenarios. I'm not able to wrestle or grapple or kick and apparently it will be another eight weeks at least until I can comfortably have any type of grappling training at full speed. At least eight weeks.' The UFC has not indicated if Magny will remain on UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3 with a replacement opponent. Forbes UFC 318 Holloway Vs. Poirier 3: Undefeated Newcomer Saves Prelim Fight By Trent Reinsmith We will have more on the UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3 fight card as fight night nears.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC 318 adding Kevin Holland
UFC 318 goes down on July 19th in New Orleans and today we learned about a really fun matchup in the welterweight division that's been added to the card. Kevin K was the first to report that 14th ranked welterweight Kevin Holland (28-13, 1 NC) will be defending his spot in the rankings against 'D-Rod' Daniel Rodriguez (19-5). This is a fight that was actually supposed to take place at UFC 279 in September 2022. Of course, Khamzat Chimaev massively missed weight for his fight with Nate Diaz which caused the entire fight card to shift. Holland ended up fighting and losing to Chimaev while Rodriguez fought Li Jingliang and won a split decision. Advertisement After that win over Li, Rodriguez hit tough times losing three fights in a row. However, he's bounced back well since the end of last year with a decision win over Alex Morono then a big time knockout win over Santiago Ponzinibbio in May. Kevin Holland will be making the walk for the fourth time already in 2025 on July 19th. Holland said that he wanted to fight up to six times this year and it looks like he's going to. Holland started the year with a loss to Reinier De Ridder at middleweight prompting him to drop back down to 170. Holland said that he's really dedicated to this welterweight run and that's shown in his last two fights. He defeated Gunnar Nelson back in May and then just a few weeks ago at UFC 316, he submitted Vicente Luque in the second round of their fight. Holland called out some bigger names, but the desire to fight again soon won out and now he's facing D-Rod. Related Headlines
The Independent
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
UFC's most active fighter Kevin Holland: ‘So many fights I don't remember'
The UFC 's most active fighter Kevin Holland has admitted that he 'doesn't remember' some of his fights as he prepares to once again return to the Octagon next month. Holland faces Vicente Luque on June 7, his 21st fight for the UFC since 2020, which makes him the promotion's most regular competitor over the past five years. A fan favourite due to his activity and charismatic personality, Holland equalled the record for most UFC wins in a calendar year back in 2020 - managing five fights and winning all of them. "My whole career I've always been pretty active,' he told BBC Sport. 'You're an athlete, you can't be an athlete for 40 years, you can only be it for so long. So take advantage and wish for the best. "Between super matches in jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, I'd fight seven to eight times a year. I've always fought a lot, never really sit on my butt too much. "I've had so many fights I don't remember none of them." Holland last fought at UFC London back in March, beating Gunnar Nelson by decision to return to winning ways, two months after being finished in the first round by Reinier de Ridder. Bouncing back from defeat is seemingly what Holland is best at, saying he barely needs any time to rest and recuperate before returning to the cage. "As soon as I was healthy to go it's straight back in the gym,' he added. 'It's simple, I like to stay in there and stay active. "I don't really need much time in between fights, two days is typically all a man needs." Luque, ranked 14th at welterweight, will be his third bout of 2025, with Holland eyeing a potential return to the top 15 with a win. However, Holland does not look too far into the future when it comes to his fighting career, taking things one bout at a time. "I'm just focused on one thing only, and that's the fight coming up," he said. "Treat MMA like a real job. Respect and appreciate it, listen to your coaches, and put the grind in. Don't listen to the critics, listen to the coaches."
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'So many fights I don't remember' - UFC's most active fighter
UFC veteran Kevin Holland is once again preparing to return to the octagon as he faces Vicente Luque on 7 out of Texas, Holland is known for his short turnarounds and his fight in New Jersey is no will be Holland's 21st fight for the UFC since 2020, making him the company's most active competitor during this made his UFC debut in 2018 - a decision loss against Thiago Santos - Holland catapulted to fame in 2020 because of his limited events because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Holland managed five fights throughout 2020 - winning all five and equalling the record for most UFC wins in a calendar some fighters, five bouts in a year simply isn't possible - but for 'The Trailblazer', this is nothing new."My whole career I've always been pretty active. You're an athlete, you can't be an athlete for 40 years, you can only be it for so long. So take advantage and wish for the best," he told BBC next fight will be his 41st professional bout in 10 years - on three occasions he has competed five or more times in a single year. "Between super matches in jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, I'd fight seven to eight times a year. I've always fought a lot, never really sit on my butt too much," he added."I've had so many fights I don't remember none of them." 'I don't really need much time between fights' Luque will be Holland's third UFC fight of 2025, most recently defeating Icelandic legend Gunnar Nelson in that, Holland suffered a disappointing first-round loss to Reinier de Ridder in January - just three months after he was pulled from a fight after suffering from a broken rib."I fought against De Ridder probably a little faster then I should've done. At the end of the day, you only learn from being in there. Experience is the best teacher and I tend to get quite a bit of experience," he said."As soon as I was healthy to go it's straight back in the gym. It's simple, I like to stay in there and stay active."I don't really need much time in between fights, two days is typically all a man needs." His constant fighting isn't the only reason for fame inside the UFC - his antics inside the cage have also won him a number of for speaking to his opponents while fighting, Holland most famously asked UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov for "wrestling advice" during an encounter with Derek Brunson in as he sits loading up his gaming console while sat in his Texas home, Holland admitted his history of talking inside the cage isn't just for entertainment purposes."My brain goes a lot of places. You ever heard of ADHD and stuff like that? It's not that fighting is boring, it's a fun sport, but there's a lot of things going through my brain at one time," he said."I'm talking to you, I'm still loading up on the game, I'm always doing 300 things at one time. I'm not good at focusing on one thing for too long." With Luque ranked 14th in the welterweight division, a win for Holland would likely bring him back into the top 15 of the gone through a tough run of form, this could come as a huge boost for Holland's future inside the when asked for advice, Holland admitted he doesn't look too far into the future."I'm just focused on one thing only, and that's the fight coming up," he said."Treat MMA like a real job. Respect and appreciate it, listen to your coaches, and put the grind in. "Don't listen to the critics, listen to the coaches."
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Welterweight record holders Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson booked for UFC 318 in New Orleans
Gunnar Nelson is making a quick turnaround – by his standards – for a showdown with the busiest fighter the UFC welterweight division has ever seen. Nelson (19-6-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC), the man with the most submission victories in UFC welterweight history, will take on all-time divisional wins leader Neil Magny (29-13 MMA, 22-12 UFC) at UFC 318 on the July 19 card from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). The promotion announced the matchup Friday on social media (via X). Your #UFC318 card just gets better and better 🔥🇮🇹 @MarvinVettori vs @BrendanAllenMMA 🇺🇸🇺🇸 @NeilMagny vs @GunniNelson 🇮🇸 — UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 16, 2025 Nelson is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kevin Holland at UFC Fight Night 255 in March. It was his first bout in more than two years, prior to which he earned wins over Bryan Barberena and Takashi Sato. The 36-year-old said before the Holland fight that he intended to be more active, and that is indeed the case as he will compete more than once in a calendar year since 2019. After taking on a string of four consecutive bouts against surging names at 170 pounds in Carlos Prates, Michael Morales, Mike Malott, and Ian Machado Garry, where he went 1-3, longtime veteran Magny will finally get an opponent more fitting to his age bracket. The 37-year-old stands alone at the top of the divisional victories list, with his 22 far exceeded that of second-place Georges St-Pierre, who has 19. The latest UFC 318 lineup now includes: Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier – for BMF title Brendan Allen vs. Marvin Vettori Ikram Aliskerov vs. Brunno Ferreira Amanda Ribas vs. Tabatha Ricci Neil Magny vs. Gunnar Nelson Islam Dulatov vs. Adam Fugitt This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 318: Welterweight record holders set to clash in New Orleans
