Plot twist: the Russians are going back to basics for this one.
Gunnar Nelson will be looking to get back to winning ways when he takes on Balkar welterweight prospect Albert Tumenov at UFC Rotterdam on May 8.
We saw footage emerge from Gunni’s fight camp in Mjolnir last week, and recently some clips have emerged of Tumenov’s stripped-down, no-frills training in Russia. The footage is reminiscent of Rocky Balboa’s famous montage in Rocky IV with Einstein seemingly favouring the natural approach in an unglamorous-looking Russian gym.
Nelson (14-2-1) is a demoralising defeat to arguably the greatest BJJ practitioner in the UFC, Demian Maia, at UFC 194 in December. Maia, arguably the best grappler in all of MMA, dominated Nelson on the ground throughout. The comprehensive decision loss marked the honourary Irish fighter’s second in his last three fights, with a first round submission victory over Brandon Thatch following his first professional loss to Rick Story.
Tumenov (17-2) is on a five-fight hot streak with his most recent win coming by way of split decision against Lorenz Larkin at UFC 195 in January. At 24, he is considered to be one of the up-and-coming fighters to watch out for in the 170 lb division.
