UFC Belfast Main Event Set: Gunnar Nelson Vs Dong Hyun Kim
UFC Belfast has it’s main event, Gunnar Nelson will be taking on Dong Hyun Kim in an extremely interesting match up. Nelson is on the verge of breaking into the top 10 and Kim is ranked 10th with only 4 losses since 2011 to top contenders (Carlos Condit, Demian Maia and current Middleweight champion Tyron Woodley)
The middleweight division is currently stacked, every fight in the UFC is hard but climbing the ladder as a middleweight is a tough task.
Nelson hit a speedbumb when he faced Demian Maia in December 2015, both both hold BJJ blackbelts and a strategic chess match was expected but Maia showed why he is the king of the mat by controlling Nelson and nullifying his BJJ. Nelson bounced back with a submission win over Albert Tumenov 4 months ago and will no doubt be looking to keep active and add the “Stun Gun” to his list of wins.
Being friends and training partners with Conor McGregor has certainly made him a plethora of Irish fans and come fight the SSE arena will no doubt be cheering his name.
Press Release:
London, UK – UFC® announced today that No.10 ranked “The Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim will take on No.12 Gunnar “Gunni” Nelson in Belfast on Saturday November 19 at The SSE Arena.
Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: KIM vs. NELSON will go on general sale on Friday, September 23 and are available via the SSE Arena box office and Ticketmaster.
Dong Hyun Kim, (21-3-1; fighting out of Busan, South Korea) is one of Korea’s most successful sportsmen, known and loved by fans for his exciting fighting style and explosive power inside the Octagon®. Kim secured back to back finishes in his last two bouts, the most recent of which was a first round knockout over Dominic Waters in November last year.
Nelson, (15-2-1; fighting out of Reykjavik, Iceland) who trains out of Straight Blast Gym in Dublin alongside “The Notorious” Conor McGregor, considers Ireland his second home and has long been a favourite amongst Irish fans. Heading into the fight on the back of a dominant submission win over Russia’s Albert Tumenov in May of this year, Nelson will be looking to rally the support of Irish fans as he prepares to headline his second UFC event.
With both fighters making waves in the UFC’s welterweight division, Kim and Nelson will be hoping to put on a performance of a lifetime for fans, in what is set to be an unmissable five round main event.
The event will take place inside The SSE Arena, which played host to UFC’s first visit to Belfast back in June 2007. UFC 72 was just the third European event to be hosted by UFC and was headlined by a middleweight match up between former champion Rich Franklin and top contender Yushin Okami.
The sport of MMA in Ireland has continued to grow in popularity in recent years. UFC hosted sell out events in Dublin in both 2014 and 2015, with thousands of fans securing their tickets to the events within a matter of minutes. A similar reaction is expected when tickets to UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: KIM vs. NELSON go on sale on September 23.
Tickets to UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: KIM vs. NELSON will be available to the general public on Friday, September 23 from 10:00 a.m. BST. UFC Fight Club members will be able to secure their tickets early on Wendesday, September 21 and UFC newsletter subscribers will gain access on Thursday, September 22 at 10:00 a.m. BST.
Fans are advised to follow @UFCEurope on Twitter for all the latest #UFCBelfast news.
