Gunnar Nelson was impressive in his last outing against Alan Jouban on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 107 co-headliner, and John Kavanagh sees “Wonderboy” as his pupil’s next step.
SBG’s Icelander Nelson lit up the O2 Arena in London, England with a slick second-round submission which earned him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus. Nelson’s record since a loss to the dominant Demian Maia in 2015 stands at 2-0 in the UFC, and he is naturally looking up the rankings in order to aid his own ascent towards a title shot.
The last man to compete for Tyron Woodley’s belt was Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who had two bites of the cherry yet failed to capture the gold. Thompson fought Woodley to a majority draw at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, New York in November 2016, and recently lost to “The Chosen One” at UFC 209 on March 4 in a much-anticipated rematch, featuring tentative displays from both men which failed to deliver as a spectacle.
Despite Thompson campaigning for a third shot at the title, John Kavanagh took the proposition to “Wonderboy” following his fighter’s excellent display at UFC Fight Night 107. SBG’s head-honcho called Thompson out via twitter, in a fight which MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, among others, gave their seal of approval:
Whats next for gunni? How about this summer we find out who the real karate kid is in the @ufc ? #GunnivWonderboy pic.twitter.com/mvffhFSKWi
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) March 19, 2017
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 19, 2017
