UFC Fight Night Glasgow Highlights: Ponzinibbio Knocks Out Gunnar Nelson In Scotland

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It was an exciting night of fights from Glasgow, Scotland as the UFC made its way back to the UK for the first time since March. Headlining the card was Conor McGregor training partner Gunnar Nelson taking on South American brawler Santiago Ponzinibbio, and from the outside, it looked like maybe the UFC was tossing Nelson a softball for him to hit out of the park in front of a friendly crowd. Unfortunately for Nelson, no one told Ponzinibbio, who spoiled the party by knocking Gunnar out in just 1:22 of round 1.

Nelson looked composed and dangerous leading up to the sudden reversal of fortunes, lunging out with lightning fast punches to catch his opponent. But an overhand right on Nelson’s jaw hurt the Icelandic fighter and Ponzinibbio pounced, peppering Gunnar with shots until one landed clean and crumpled him against the cage.
It’s another unfortunate setback for Nelson, who has been touted by some as a future champion but hasn’t been able to build up the momentum to become a legit contender in the UFC. Before the Ponzinibbio loss, he had won his last two fights by submitting solid opponents Alan Jouban and Albert Tumenov. Ponzinibbio improves to 6-2 in the UFC and definitely won’t be overlooked in his next appearance.

In other action, Scotland’s own JoJo Calderwood dropped a decision to highly touted prospect Cynthia Calvillo with the judges handing it to Calvillo 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28. The fight was a bit closer than the scorecards might indicate, with Calvillo edging the first and third rounds off takedowns. Calderwood was game in the scrambles that followed but ended up in dangerous submissions each time. She takes her second loss in a row, while Cynthia Calvillo leaves Glasgow with her undefeated record intact.

That wasn’t the end of the bad news for Scottish UFC fans as another one of their fighters, Stevie Ray, was knocked out in brutal fashion by Paul Felder at 3:57 of the first round.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/886688582752022528

Khalil Rountree seems to have shaken off any Octagon jitters and is showing his deadly potential in his recent outings. He knocked out Scotland’s Paul Craig at 4:56 of the first round.

The highlight of the prelims was undoubtedly Galore Bofando knocking out Charlie Ward by slamming his head against the floor of the cage.

And once more in slow motion: