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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
An unfortunate injury to Gunnar Nelson has taken him out of a fight with Mike Pyle next month, but it has opened an opportunity for Rick Story.
The UFC announced overnight that Nelson was out of the bout at UFC 160, with Story stepping in to that fight.
The undefeated Nelson won his second straight fight in the UFC in February, though it was a close fight with an argument he may have lost against Jorge Santiago. He wanted to continue his climb against Pyle, but will now have to wait a little longer before returning to action.
Pyle hopes to continue his run up the UFC's welterweight ladder after scoring his third straight stoppage win in December. Pyle holds a 7-3 mark in the UFC, though those losses came to very good competition in Brock Larson (on short notice in his UFC debut), Jake Ellenberger, and Rory MacDonald.
Story jumps into this fight with a chance to start redeeming himself after a rough couple of years. Story had compiled a six fight winning streak from 2009-2011, but that was derailed when he accepted a fight with Charlie Brenneman on 24 hours notice when Nate Marquardt was removed from the event last minute. That loss to Brenneman was his first of three over his next four fights, and he finally bounced back last month with a first round stoppage win, his first finish since August of 2010.
UFC 160 takes place on May 25 from Las Vegas, headlined by a Heavyweight Championship bout between Cain Velasquez and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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