UFC on FUEL TV 7: February 16, 2013 Wembley Arena in London, England UFC Welterweight Contender Gunnar Nelson (-320) Profile: Icelandic grappling monster Gunnar Nelson (10-0-1) made his debut in the UFC in a big way in 2012 when he submitted Jeremy Horn pupil DaMarques Johnson in the first round of their UFC on FUEL TV 5 bout. Since that victory, Nelson has been waiting in the wings for his next opponent. At first, it was supposed to be Justin Edwards, but after an injury to Edwards free agent and former UFC vet Jorge Santiago was called on to step in. Nelson owns multiple gold and silver medals in the IBJJF Pan-American BJJ Championships in both Gi and No-Gi competitions and has translated those skills to MMA well. The 24-year-old has decent stand-up that will surely only improve over time, and Nelson is yet another name to look out for in the absolutely stacked welterweight division. UFC Welterweight Contender Jorge Santiago (+240) Profile: Jorge Santiago (25-10) has been around what feels like forever. He made his first appearance in the UFC way back in 2006, but a quick KO win was forgotten after back-to-back losses to Chris Leben and Alan Belcher. After his first stint in the UFC, Santiago continued his training at American Top Team, winning the Strikeforce middleweight tournament as well as capturing the Sengoku middleweight belt and later scoring a 2010 Fight of the Year in defending his belt against Kazuo Misaki. Following that epic win, Santiago journeyed back to the UFC only to fall to Brian Stann in a Fight of the Night at UFC 130 and later to Demian Maia at UFC 136. After his second pair of consecutive losses, Santiago was cut and hit the independent circuit, racking up two impressive wins before returning to the UFC yet again as a late replacement at welterweight. Opening UFC on FUEL TV 7 Odds Breakdown: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has made Nelson a solid -320 favorite (bet $320 to win $100) against Santiago, who opened as a +240 underdog (bet $100 to win $240) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. Santiago is an injury replacement who has lost his last four fights inside the Octagon after winning his debut in the UFC nearly seven years ago. He started competing at middleweight in 2005 and once fought Diego Sanchez for the King of the Cage welterweight championship in 2004, losing a unanimous decision. Most of his bouts have resulted in finishes, as 29 of his 35 fights have been knockouts or submissions. Meanwhile, Nelson is a true submission specialist who has seen each of his last five wins end that way, all in the first round. He will be fighting in England for the sixth time in eight bouts and obviously has a lot more upside than his opponent. Between them, only six of their 46 combined fights have gone to the judges, and UNDER 2.5 rounds opened as a -160 favorite. Perhaps the most intriguing betting tip on this matchup is that Santiago has never been submitted among his 10 losses, instead ending up on the wrong side of four decisions in addition to getting knocked out six times.
