LAS VEGAS – Kyle Nelson beat Fernando Padilla with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the main card at Noche UFC at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Nelson, who is unbeaten in his past three fights after a 1-4 start to his UFC career.
Kyle Nelson vs. Fernando Padilla
Result: Kyle Nelson def. Fernando Padilla via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Updated records: Nelson (15-5-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC), Padilla (15-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC)
Key stats: Nelson was the only underdog to win at Noche UFC. Padilla was a -250 favorite.
Nelson on the fight's key moment
“I felt like I knew (I did enough to win). I was able to defend a lot of his shots and land a lot of my own, but you never know what the judges are seeing. Sometimes, if he’s punching my guard, they may not see if it’s landing or not. It’s hard to tell with the judges. But I was fairly confident. I knew I wobbled him pretty good a couple times, landed some head kicks. I shot a couple of takedowns, got him to touch his butt on the mat. I felt like I did more overall, for sure.”
Nelson on Padilla
“Doing my research for this one, Fernando’s a great prospect, a great up-and-comer, as well as my previous opponent, Blake Bilder. He was 8-0. Fernando’s coming in with a lot of good fights. He beat a super tough guy in Juliano Rosa. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s still young. He’s super tall and lanky – great skill set for the UFC. Unfortunately, he ran into me tonight.”
Nelson on what he wants next
“I’ve looked up to Cub Swanson for a long time. I’ve been fighting a lot of these kind of up-and-comers with a lot of hype behind them. I’d like to get a fight against a UFC veteran now. He’s coming off of his win against Hakeem Dawodu, another Canadian, that I thought was a little bit iffy. I’d love to get that one back for Canada. Cub comes to fight and and I come to fight. It’d be nothing I’d love more than to put on a great show and have it end up in the UFC Hall of Fame.”
To hear more from Nelson, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
