By the Numbers: Gunnar Nelson vs. Gilbert Burns

On my way to Denmark @ufc Copenhagen let’s go pic.twitter.com/xLEVChgYR9

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) September 21, 2019

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Gilbert Burns enters UFC Fight Night 160 as a replacement for the injured Thiago Alves. With 21 submission victories between him and his opponent, Gunnar Nelson, this is a welcome development from a grappling standpoint. The match is set to take place on Sept. 28 in Denmark, where Nelson made his pro debut 12 years ago. As they get their ground games ready, learn some of their career-defining numbers.

Active winning streak

After dropping his UFC 226 bout to Dan Hooker, Burns went on a three-fight winning streak. He decisioned Olivier Aubin-Mercier and tapped out Mike Davis at 155 before returning to welterweight and spoiling the 20-0 record of Alexey Kunchenko with a unanimous decision victory on just two weeks’ notice.

Nelson is coming off a split decision loss to #4-ranked Leon Edwards. If he wants to get back in the rankings, he needs to beat Burns and ignite another winning streak reminiscent of his 4-0 start in the Octagon.

Professional record

With his recent victory, Burns now sports a 16-3 ledger, with all three losses coming in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He went on a seven-fight winning streak to start his career in Brazil, and when he was signed by the UFC, he added three more wins. Apart from Hooker, he has also lost to Michel Prazeres and Rashid Magomedov.

Nelson’s loss to Edwards dropped him to 17-4-1. That single draw on his resume happened in his pro debut in Denmark, after which he picked up 13 straight victories, four of which were in the UFC. Like Burns, all of his defeats have occurred inside the Octagon. In addition to Edwards, Nelson has also lost to Santiago Ponzinibbio, Demian Maia and Rick Story.

Wins by submission

Both second-degree jiu-jitsu black belts, Nelson and Burns carry with them extensive grappling experience and have been making good use of it inside the cage. Between the two, it’s Nelson who has more submission victories at 13. His victims in the UFC have been Alex Oliveira, Alan Jouban, Albert Tumenov, Brandon Thatch, Zak Cummings, Omari Akhmedov and DaMarques Johnson.

Burns, on the other hand, has tapped four opponents in the Octagon, namely Mike Davis, Lukasz Sajewski, Alex Oliveira and Christos Giagos. In all, he owns eight wins by submission.

Wins by knockout

To go along with his grappling, Nelson also has a rich Karate background, hence his unorthodox striking style and good sense of range. These traits have earned him four wins by KO or TKO, all of which happened early in his career. He, in turn, has been stopped once by knockout, no thanks to Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Burns’ ever improving standup is intensified by the power in his hands. He has so far dropped and stopped five opponents by KO or TKO. His victims in the UFC have been Dan Moret and Jason Saggo.