Welterweight record holders Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson booked for UFC 318 in New Orleans
Gunnar Nelson is making a quick turnaround – by his standards – for a showdown with the busiest fighter the UFC welterweight division has ever seen.
Nelson (19-6-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC), the man with the most submission victories in UFC welterweight history, will take on all-time divisional wins leader Neil Magny (29-13 MMA, 22-12 UFC) at UFC 318 on the July 19 card from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
The promotion announced the matchup Friday on social media (via X).
Your #UFC318 card just gets better and better 🔥🇮🇹 @MarvinVettori vs @BrendanAllenMMA 🇺🇸🇺🇸 @NeilMagny vs @GunniNelson 🇮🇸 pic.twitter.com/ashJfdTQQf
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 16, 2025
Nelson is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Kevin Holland at UFC Fight Night 255 in March. It was his first bout in more than two years, prior to which he earned wins over Bryan Barberena and Takashi Sato. The 36-year-old said before the Holland fight that he intended to be more active, and that is indeed the case as he will compete more than once in a calendar year since 2019.
After taking on a string of four consecutive bouts against surging names at 170 pounds in Carlos Prates, Michael Morales, Mike Malott, and Ian Machado Garry, where he went 1-3, longtime veteran Magny will finally get an opponent more fitting to his age bracket. The 37-year-old stands alone at the top of the divisional victories list, with his 22 far exceeded that of second-place Georges St-Pierre, who has 19.
The latest UFC 318 lineup now includes:
Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier – for BMF title
Brendan Allen vs. Marvin Vettori
Ikram Aliskerov vs. Brunno Ferreira
Amanda Ribas vs. Tabatha Ricci
Neil Magny vs. Gunnar Nelson
Islam Dulatov vs. Adam Fugitt
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 318: Welterweight record holders set to clash in New Orleans
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