With Gunnar Nelson back training, coach wants Dong Hyun Kim fight rescheduled for early 2017

The ankle injury that forced Gunnar Nelson out of this month’s UFC Fight Night 99 main event vs. Dong Hyun Kim will not sideline him for long, according to his coach John Kavanagh.

Speaking with MMAjunkie, Kavanagh said Nelson (15-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who pulled out of the scheduled welterweight bout with Kim (21-3-1 MMA, 12-3 UFC) after suffering a freak injury at a UFC open workout ahead of the event, is already back in the gym.

Although Nelson hasn’t yet been cleared for full-contact training, Kavanagh said one of his star students on the SBG Ireland fight team is almost 100 percent, meaning he could be ready to fight sooner than later.

“He’s practically back training now,” Kavanagh said in an interview to promote his book, “Win or Learn,” which can be purchased online. “The timing was such that it wouldn’t have given him enough time to properly prepare for somebody as tough as his opponent. It was just a timing issue.”

With Nelson vs. Kim off the card, the UFC added a new main event to UFC Fight Night 99, which takes place Nov. 19 at SSE Arena in Belfast with a rematch between middleweights Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.

Kavanagh said he expects Nelson, an honorable mention in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, to be completely healed and ready to fight again in the first quarter of 2017. And if he had it his way, the UFC would stick to its original plan of booking “Gunni” against No. 8-ranked Kim.

“He’s practically healed up, he’s practically back training full-on, and I’m hoping the UFC will put on the same fight in early 2017,” Kavanagh said. “But we have to wait on their decision for that.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 99, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.