Two welterweights on the heels of extended layoffs will face one another when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to London, as Gunnar Nelson takes on Takashi Sato in a featured UFC Fight Night 204 attraction on Saturday at the O2 Arena.
Nelson enters the cage on a two-fight losing streak. The Renzo Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has not competed since he dropped a unanimous decision to Gilbert Burns at UFC Fight Night 160 on Sept. 28, 2019—more than 900 days ago. Sato, meanwhile, has two of his past three bouts. He last appeared at UFC on ESPN 18, where he tapped to a second-round arm-triangle choke from Miguel Baeza on Nov. 28, 2020.
As Nelson and Sato make final preparations for their confrontation at 170 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
33: Years of age for Nelson, who was born on July 28, 1988 in Akureyri, Iceland.
12: Nelson victories by submission, accounting for 71% of his career total (17). His methods of choice: seven rear-naked chokes, two armbars, two guillotine chokes and one neck crank. Nelson owns four other victories by knockout or technical knockout and one more by decision.
25: Rounds completed by Nelson as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on six different occasions and carries a 1-4-1 record in those bouts.
11: First-round finishes on the Nelson resume, with three of them having taken place inside the Octagon. He submitted DaMarques Johnson with a rear-naked choke in 3:34 at UFC on Fuel TV 5, dismissed Omari Akhmedov with a guillotine choke in 4:36 at UFC Fight Night 37 and took care of Brandon Thatch with a rear-naked choke in 2:54 at UFC 189.
.779: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Burns, Leon Edwards, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Demian Maia and Rick Story—who have defeated Nelson. They boast a combined record of 116-33.
31: Years of age for Sato, who was born in Tokyo on June 9, 1990.
11: Sato wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 73% of his career total (15). His list of victims includes Jason Witt, Ben Saunders, Matt Vaile and Masayuki Hamagishi. Sato holds two other wins by submission and two more by decision.
29: Seconds needed for Sato to punch out Yasuaki Miura at a Tribe Tokyo Fight show on Nov. 3, 2014. Having occurred more than seven years ago, it remains the fastest finish of his 19-fight career.
5: Organizations in which Sato has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 9-2 in Pancrase, 2-2 in the UFC, 2-0 in Deep, 1-0 in Grandslam MMA and 1-0 in Tribe Tokyo Fight.
68: Combined victories between the four men—Baeza, Belal Muhammad, Glaico Franca and Kenta Takagi—who have beaten Sato. They sport a cumulative winning .673 (68-33) winning percentage.
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