LONDON – Gunnar Nelson returned from a two-and-a-half year layoff at UFC Fight Night 204 and had his way with Takashi Sato.
After various circumstances kept him out of the cage for the longest stretch of his career, Nelson (18-5-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) came back and used his superior grappling to outwork Sato (16-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and secure a unanimous decision victory by three 30-26 scores.
The welterweight bout was part of the UFC Fight Night 204 main card at the O2. It streamed on ESPN+.
After feeling each other out on the feet for the first few minutes, Nelson and Sato finally tangled up in a grappling exchange and within moments, Nelson had Sato’s back. He landed strikes from the back and methodically worked toward a choke. He couldn’t get it, though, and Sato survived the round.
It was more of the same in Round 2. Nelson was happy to stay standing with Sato, until he decided otherwise and secured the takedown. Nelson advanced to the back and spent almost the entire round working for the choke, but couldn’t get it done.
The action picked up where it left off in the final round. Nelson got the takedown on Sato at will, moved to the back and chipped away at attempts to finish the fight by submission. He couldn’t do it again, though, and cruised to the final bell to get the win on the scorecard.
“I wanted to do things differently on the ground and be a little more patient,” Nelson said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “It feels great (to be back). It’s awesome. (I’m) very happy to be here.”
- Gunnar Nelson def. Takashi Sato via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Molly McCann def. Luana Carolina via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:52
- Ilia Topuria def. Jai Herbert via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:07
- Makwan Amirkhani def. Mike Grundy via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 0:57
- Sergei Pavlovich def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:03
- Paul Craig def. Nikita Krylov via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:57
- Jack Shore def. Timur Valiev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Elise Reed def. Cory McKenna via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Cody Durden via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:58
