Fresh off a easy win against Rick Alchin at AFC last weekend, KMA fighter Corey Nelson has been confirmed as a late replacement and will defend his Nitro welterweight title against Anton Zafir (pictured) at Nitro 11.
The event is scheduled to occur at the Logan Entertainment Centre in Logan City, Queensland on March 8.
Zafir was originally set to face Matthew Frincu in a number one contender fight, however after spending last couple months training in Arizona, USA, Frincu was forced to pull out of the fight earlier in the week due to injuries in the lead-up.
Nelson stepping up on short notice will not doubt come as good news for Zafir, who has been unlucky in getting a match-up in in the Nitro promotion the last few events. The school teacher is coming off three consecutive wins against Rod Staader, Shane Gregory and most recently Tristan Murphy back in November. His lone professional loss came at the hands of Alex Volkanovski back in April, 2013.
A favourite to appear on TUF Nations, Corey Nelson missed out on an opportunity reportedly due to visa problems. After losing three straight fights in late 2011/early 2012, Nelson has been on a tear with seven straight victories against the likes of Dan Pauling, Tony Rossini, Alex Volkanovski and Ian Bone where he first captured the Nitro welterweight title in July 2013. The fight against Zafir will be a very short turn around for Nelson who competed on February 22 at Australian Fighting Championships 8. Nelson stopped his opponent with leg-kicks at only 3:09 of the opening round.
Also defending his title on the card will Gold Coast based Julian “Julz The Jackal” Rabaud who will look to defend his Nitro bantamweight title against Australian based American fighter Ben Nguyen, while in a battle for the vacated Nitro light-heavyweight title, Sam Kei battles veteran Api Hemara.
The undercard will also feature local fighter Alex MacDonald look to take a step closer to a title shot when he faces Gokhan Turkyilmaz, while former Nitro light-heavyweight champion Joe Muir comes up against Semir Celikovic.
Fight News Australia can also confirm a 79 kilogram catch-weight bout between James Klingner and Eddie Trewin has been added to the card today.
Fight Card:
- Julian Rabaud vs Ben Nguyen – Nitro bantamweight title
- Corey Nelson vs Anton Zafir – Nitro welterweight title
- Sam Kei vs Api Hemara – Nitro light-heavyweight title
- Joe Muir vs Semir Celikovic
- Alex MacDonald vs Gokhan Turkyilmaz
- Luke Morris vs Michael Roger
- Maui Tuigamala vs Matt Eland
- Ryan Heketa vs Ali Kocak Mohammed
- Jayden Eynaud vs Riley Mallett
- Eddie Trewin vs James Klinger
