Gunnar Nelson is facing another fight cancellation. The seasoned professional, whose career has seen its share of rescheduled bouts, announced recently that he has been compelled to pull out of his upcoming contest against Neil Magny at UFC 318. The withdrawal is due to a hamstring injury.
Nelson shared the details regarding the injury via Instagram, following the initial report by Octagon Update. He explained the complex nature of the issue:
“I won’t get into any crazy details about the injury but I’ll tell you it’s a two-part injury, so there is a tear in one of the muscles in the hamstring, which is a Grade 2b injury,” Nelson said. “It’s not too bad, so it’s possibly something that we could have worked with. However, the second injury is on the tendon inside the muscle, which is a full thickness tear, so a Grade 4c injury and that’s a more serious one.”
He further elaborated on the impact, stating he is “absolutely useless” for grappling or kicking due to the injury. Nelson anticipates a minimum recovery period of eight weeks before he can comfortably resume grappling training at full intensity.
The 36-year-old fighter last competed in March, suffering a decision loss to Kevin Holland. This was only Nelson`s third appearance in the octagon since 2022. The defeat to Holland halted a two-fight winning streak for “Gunni,” bringing his official UFC record to 10 wins and 6 losses.
It remains uncertain whether the UFC will find a replacement opponent for Neil Magny for the July 19th card or if the planned bout with Nelson will be rescheduled for a later date.
Despite the setback, Nelson remains hopeful for a return to competition before the close of 2025. He expressed optimism, mentioning that surgery is not required:
“The good news is I won’t have to do surgery so I’ll hopefully be good to go at the end of the year or late this year, so that’s my plan,” Nelson said. “That’s the aim. I’m optimistic that I’ll get this sorted in a few months, in a couple of months.”
UFC 318 is scheduled to take place on July 19th at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The event features a highly anticipated main event trilogy bout between “BMF” champion Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier, a fight Poirier has indicated will be the final one of his career.
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