Gunnar Nelson vs. Mike Pyle Announced for UFC 160 on Memorial Weekend

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday announced a welterweight bout Gunnar Nelson and Mike Pyle for UFC 160 on May 25.

The bout has been verbally agreed to, according to UFC officials.

Nelson enters the bout with an undefeated 11-0-1 record. An accomplished grappler and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, Nelson has lived up to his billing in his first two fights in the Octagon.

In his UFC debut, Nelson submitted DaMarques Johnson, and then followed that up at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in February with a dominating three-round decision victory over Jorge Santiago.

He’ll now start stepping a little further up the ladder by squaring off with Pyle, a fighter with three times the number of bouts to his credit.

Pyle (24-8-1) is on an impressive run of his own.

Pyle had been on a three-fight streak, rocketing up the division, but had his run derailed by Rory MacDonald at UFC 133. Pyle has since returned to his winning ways, reeling off consecutive victories over Ricardo Funch, Josh Neer, and James Head, putting his name back on the radar.

The winner of this fight will see his stock rise markedly, propelling him into the title talk mix.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez puts his belt on the line against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the UFC 160 main event on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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