Rolling off four straight wins in the UFC, gets you places and for Gunnar Nelson, that place is his first headlining main event at UFC Fight Night 53 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The undefeated Gunnar Nelson (13-0-1) will face Rick Story (17-8) in a five-round welterweight main event of the Oct. 4 show from the Ericsson Globe Arena
Nelson, from Iceland, is ranked as the No. 12 contender in the division, while Story, who counts a 2010 win over current champion Johny Hendricks amongst his many accolades, is ranked No. 15.
It will be UFC’s third show at the Ericsson Globe Arena, after selling out the previous two events, which were both centred around the injured Alexander Gustafsson. Gustafsson headlined the first show in 2012, and was scheduled to headline the second event last April before having to pull out due to a cut suffered shortly before the fight.
The show will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass in the afternoon, on the same day that the UFC will be holding two other shows
“To headline a card in Sweden is huge for me,” said Nelson. “They are our neighbors and one of my favorite fighters is, of course, from Sweden (Gustafsson). They love my kind of style of fighting, and I am of course, Scandinavian, so we have a good connection. So overall, I think it’s going to be a great night. I am really excited about this opportunity. I am honored to fight in Sweden and to headline this card.”
