Kyle Nelson ecstatic to be fighting back home in Canada, vows to KO Blake Bilder at UFC 289 and hand him his first career loss

Kyle Nelson gets to fight in his home country of Canada once again.

Nelson made his UFC debut at UFC 231 in Toronto on short notice against Diego Ferreira. Since then, he hasn’t fought back in Canada – in large part due to the promotion not having an event in the country since 2019 – so he’s eager to get the chance to fight in his home Nation again.

“We didn’t really hear anything from the UFC but we heard rumors the UFC was coming back to Canada so we were pretty sure if they were going to come they would put me on the card,” Nelson said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I didn’t expect to be cut after that draw, every fight I put on exciting fights, and in the last two fights, they were tossups and I feel like I won both of those as do some people in the UFC. I definitely do need to go put on a show in my next fight on June 10.”

Once the UFC confirmed their return to Canada, Kyle Nelson was offered to fight Blake Bilder at UFC 289 – who he admits he wasn’t too familiar with him.

Yet, once the fight was confirmed, Nelson began studying Bilder and believes it is a good style matchup for him.

“Before we got the fight I wasn’t super familiar with him. I did watch his Contender Series fight against Alex Morgan but I wasn’t really breaking him down but was watching because Morgan is a fellow Canadian,” Nelson said. “Once we got the offer I started to break down his skills and I think it is a great matchup for me. He is undefeated in MMA but he has a good style for me to capitalize on and has some hype being undefeated.”

With Nelson liking the style matchup, he not only expects to get back into the win column, but he believes he will KO Bilder.

“In some of my earlier fights in the UFC, I put too much pressure on myself to get the finish and it didn’t work out well for me. I’m going to go back to how I fought before the UFC, I’m going to move forward, I’m going to throw punches,” Nelson said. “But, I’m not relying on each punch to be a knockout punch. I’m going to put together my punches and combos and the knockout will come to me.”

If Nelson does get the KO win over Blake Bilder at UFC 289, the hope for the Canadian is to make a quick turnaround and build off the victory.

“I’m hoping it sets me up for another big fight and I’m hoping the UFC comes back to Canada soon. I feel great having fought in London last summer and fighting in February, I want to keep the fights moving every two or three months. I’d like to knock him out and get another fight right away,” Nelson concluded.