November 2, 2024

Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira vs. Gunnar Nelson added to UFC 231

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

A welterweight scrap between Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira and Gunnar Nelson has been added to UFC 231 in December.

Multiple sources confirmed the initial report from ESPN to MMAFighting on Thursday.

Nelson (16-3-1) has not been seen inside the Octagon since his controversial loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio in July 2017. During the scrap, fans witnessed Nelson succumb to punches early in the first round of their main event matchup in Scotland. However, Nelson almost immediately argued an inadvertent eye poke from Ponzinibbio led to the fight-ending combination. Nelson later unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the loss.

“Gunni” was expected to return to action against Neil Magny at UFC Liverpool in May 2017 before a knee injury forced him out of the contest.

Oliveira (19-5-1) was last seen starching Carlo Perdersoli Jr. just 39 seconds into their fight in September. This not only marked his 12th career (T)KO victory but also his fourth stoppage win in his last five fights. Prior to his last performance, Oliveira stunned the fighting community with a second-round submission over former UFC interim champion Carlos Condit in April.

With the addition of this welterweight contest, here is how the entire cards stands:

Max Holloway (c) vs. Brian Ortega – for UFC featherweight championship

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for vacant women’s flyweight championship

Jimi Manuwa vs. Thiago Santos

Claudia Gadelha vs. Nina Ansaroff

Eryk Anders vs. Elias Theodorou

Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Gilbert Burns

Brad Katona vs. Matthew Lopez

Chad Laprise vs. Dhiego Lima

John Makdessi vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira

Hakeem Dawodu vs. Kyle Bochniak

Devin Clark vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jessica Eye

Renato Moicano vs. Mirsad Bektic

Alex Oliveira vs. Gunnar Nelson

UFC 231 will go down on Dec. 8 inside the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

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