UFC Belfast: Gunnar Nelson Issues Statement on Withdrawal
UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson, who was scheduled to take on Dong Hyun Kim, withdrew from the bout due to injury just a few days ago leaving the event with a new main event.
Nelson issued a statement on Instagram on Tuesday to address the reason why he pulled out from the fight at UFC Belfast:
“I want to begin with saying I’m very sorry to all my fans, sponsors, friends, and StunGun that I’m pulling out of this fight in Belfast,” began Nelson.
UFC Fight Night 99 is set to take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Nov.19, and is now headlined by a middleweight rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall. The entire event will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.
“I was so much looking forward to fighting again in Ireland and now it’s not happening because of a stupid ankle twist that ironically happened in a UFC open workout!!”
Nelson referenced a Facebook Live video which broadcast the workout he says he was injured in.
“It happened at 1:08 min into the video that was live on facebook for those who want to see it, it’s still up I think.”
“Right away I wasn’t sure how serious it was so I kept face and rolled a little on but told my training partner Kenny Baker about it during and he knew all about it he said because he felt the massive click when it happened. I was forced to stop within minutes because I realized it was bad.
For a few days I was not able to put any weight on the leg and thought I had to pull out and felt devastated but then within 10 days I got to a state where I could walk normally without much pain so I thought again that I was gonna fight and felt great.
For a few weeks I was doing everything that I could to get better so I would be able to return to proper training again but that next step of being able to bounce, move in and out and grapple just would not happen. I kept doing everything I could which was mostly rowing, swimming and bits here and there thinking I would get there.”
His training staff realized that he would need more time to heal up and Nelson himself began to agree with them.
“A week ago my trainers told me and I was starting to realize that this was gonna take more time and I could not go into this fight with one ankle and not really any martial art training at all :-(“
The UFC announced that Nelson was out of the bout and placed Gegard Mousasi vs. Uriah Hall 2 as the main event for UFC Belfast.
Nelson ended the statement by saying:
“Again I am so sorry for this but to all who already booked their tickets and travels and all the fans that were looking forward to this fight like I was. I will be back soon better then ever. Thank you all for all the support and i’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
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