Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson is close to full fitness after a knee injury ruled him out of a fight with Mike Pyle at UFC 160. We spoke to John Kavanagh of SBG Ireland recently, who declared: “Gunni’s back MMA sparring now, pretty much full on.”

When questioned about the date of Nelson’s return, Kavanagh added: “for sure by the end of the year. I don’t know about the Manchester card. It’s a little bit close.”

Nelson, 2-0 in the UFC, is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Santiago in London last February and was set to fight veteran Mike Pyle on 25th May at UFC 160 in Las Vegas. A victory in the bout could have propelled Gunnar into welterweight contention but the knee injury put paid to those plans.

The undefeated Nelson, whose professional MMA record stands at 11 victories and 1 draw (which came in his very first professional bout), is doing a week or two of full sparring to ensure his knee is stable.

Once the team are confident of his fitness; “it will be a case of just getting in touch with the UFC and saying ‘hey, we’re ready to go,’” Kavanagh advised.

By Simon Maguire