Kyle Nelson may find it difficult to fly under radar much longer if he stays on his current trajectory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.
As Nelson moves ever closer to his upcoming clash with Garcia, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. He finds commonality with a legendary replacement.
Nelson hails from Huntsville, Ontario—a town of roughly 20,000 people situated 135 miles north of Toronto. George Selkirk, the man who replaced Babe Ruth as the New York Yankees’ right fielder, was born there in 1908. A two-time all-star, Selkirk batted .312 with 11 home runs and 94 runs batted in across 128 games in his first full season as Ruth’s replacement in 1935.
2. Panning for regional gold paid off.
The Canadian started his career with six consecutive victories before losing a five-round decision to Adrian Hadribeaj in a failed bid to capture the Triple X Cagefighting lightweight title on Sept. 12, 2015. Some seven months later, Nelson laid claim to the vacant Elite 1 MMA featherweight crown with a first-round technical knockout of Justin Bourgeois. It touched off a six-fight winning streak that led to his arrival in the UFC.
3. He found training grounds close to home.
Nelson operates out of the House of Champions MMA camp in Hamilton, Ontario, where he has rubbed shoulders with a number of high-caliber stablemates, from Shane Campbell and Diana Belbita to Claude Patrick, William Romero, Josh Hill and current Fight League Atlantic champion Christien Savoie. Alin Halmagean oversees Nelson’s development.
4. He often conducts business in a hurry.
“The Monster” has eight first-round finishes to his credit, with two of them having taken place since he linked arms with the UFC. In addition to his aforementioned stoppage of Algeo, Nelson buried Marco Polo Reyes with punches and did so in just 96 seconds at UFC Fight Night 159 in September 2019.
5. Resilience has carried him further than some expected.
Nelson won just one of his first six UFC fights, going 1-4-1 in those six outings and prompting speculation about whether or not he belonged at the sport’s highest level. He has since righted his ship with back-to-back decision victories over Blake Bilder and Fernando Padilla, along with his TKO of Algeo.