GUNNAR NELSON LOOKED better than ever as he returned to winning ways this evening at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam.

Nelson (15-2-1) picked up his sixth win in the UFC and, in the process, halted the progress of highly-regarded Russian striker Albert Tumenov (17-3).

Entering the bout on the back of five consecutive wins which elevated him to 13th in the welterweight rankings, Tumenov was the favourite with the odds-makers.

However, Nelson looked superb from the outset, giving as good as he got in the striking exchanges before taking the fight down in the latter half of the opening frame.

Nelson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, was always going to have the upper hand in the grappling department, and while Tumenov survived into the second round, he was unable to withstand a second ground offensive.

After taking Tumenov’s back, Nelson searched for a rear-naked choke. The arm wasn’t tucked under the chin but the Icelandic fighter exerted enough pressure to secure the tap from Tumenov and win via neck crank after 3:15 of the second round.

It was an important victory for Nelson, who was comprehensively defeated on the scorecards by Demian Maia back in December at UFC 194 in Las Vegas.

Nelson, who trains at Mjolnir in Reykjavik and Straight Blast Gym in Dublin, is a fan-favourite among Irish fans due to his links to John Kavanagh’s team.

Earlier on the card at UFC Fight Night 87, there was disappointment for Irish flyweight Neil Seery as he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Kyoji Horiguchi.

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