Over 12 years and 22 fights later, Huntsville’s Kyle “The Monster” Nelson is preparing to square up with his toughest opponent yet.
He has been matched up against Calvin “The Boston Finisher” Kattar for the Sept. 7 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event. Nelson enters the fight having won his last three bouts while Kattar has lost three in a row.
Kattar is the ninth ranked fighter in the UFC’s featherweight division so, with a win, Nelson could be vaulted into title contention. This will be the first time in Nelson’s UFC career he’s fought a fighter ranked inside the top 10.
“He’s definitely in the sport at the highest level for a while now,” says Nelson.
At 33 years old, Nelson says the journey from him starting in mixed martial arts when he was 14 to now has been a long one, but it’s been worth it.
“I made it to where I want to be,” he says.
Nelson adds with experience comes confidence, especially in how he prepares for fights. “You can only be as confident as your preparation,” he explains. He admits an actual fight is different than training for one, if he wakes up on fight day knowing he left no stone unturned while preparing, he knows he’s in a good place.
The first time Nelson fought in the UFC was in Dec. 2018 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ont. He says he got a lot of support simply because he was a Canadian. Likewise, he knows people from Muskoka support him because he’s from Huntsville.
“Now I can defiantly see getting behind me because I’m Kyle Nelson, not just because I’m Canadian or from their hometown,” he says. “It’s because I’m one of their favourite fighters now and I’ve worked my way up the rankings.”
