With a professional fighting record of 6-1, you wouldn’t guess Kyle “The Monster” Nelson to be an underdog. It’s a mentality the Huntsville fighter has adopted, however, as he prepares to head into enemy territory for his next fight, a featherweight title shot in the maritime Elite 1 MMA circuit.
In just over two weeks, The Monster will be on the road to Moncton, New Brunswick to square off against local boy Justin Bourgeois, who is coming off a three-round unanimous decision against Tommy Cote last March. Bourgeois is 7-3 in his last 10 fights, despite only making one appearance in the octagon in the last four years.
“I think they wanted to bring in someone for their guy to beat, and I think they were naive enough to believe I would be an easy fight for him,” says Nelson, who has been back and forth between Huntsville and the prodigious Tri Star athletic facility in Quebec. Nelson has been ramping up the intensity of his preparation in recent weeks, spending long hours training with Coach Firas Zahabi at the same gym that has produced several UFC legends, including the most decorated MMA fighter in Canadian history, Georges St. Pierre.
Kyle “The Monster” Nelson sparred with UFC legend Georges St. Pierre at the Tri Star training facility in Quebec
The fight came together fairly quickly over a period of several days in February, although Elite 1 Productions (the promotional company responsible for orchestrating the fight) initially reached out to Nelson several months prior to gauge his interest in making the trip out East.
With a belt on the line, it was an easy decision for Nelson, who was undefeated in his professional career prior to moving up a weight class and falling to Adrian Hadribeaj in five rounds last September. Now returning to the featherweight division, Nelson expects to be in fine form for the title bout on April 23.
“I’m feeling great,” says Nelson. “I’ve stepped up my training to two or three times a day, six days a week, and my diet is on point. I’m getting down to fighting weight and am still building muscle. I’m feeling very confident about this fight.”
The fight itself will be televised on the fight network, albeit not live, on a date to be announced in the coming weeks.
“As soon as I know we will have a viewing party at Moose Delaney’s and we’ll watch it on TV,” says Nelson.
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