UFC: Exciting New Prospect As Rick Story Revitalizes Career
By Dan Dudley
@DanDudleyTV
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Rick ‘The Horror’ Story overcame tough, unbeaten opponent Gunnar Nelson on Saturday night in Stockholm. He’s currently riding a two fight win streak, with one dominant performance resulting in an arm-triangle choke, and the other being last night’s split decision victory; it should have been a unanimous decision if not for a strange judging outcome.
Story never shy’s away from the big occasions with the big named fighters. Outrageously, he’s currently not in the top 15 of the UFC welterweights, despite being one of only two men to defeat current UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, now the only man to defeat No. 12 ranked welterweight Nelson. Story is classed as a UFC veteran, however, his new found form and lease of life towards MMA will result in an exciting near future.
‘The Horror’ has an MMA record of 18 wins and eight losses. His 18 victories include four knockouts and four submissions, with 10 going down to a decision; these also include one fight of the night and one submission of the night. Story’s won four of his last six bouts with the two losses coming via extremely narrow split decisions against Mike Pyle and UFC newcomer Kelvin Gastelum.
Going toe-to-toe with majority of top welterweight contenders, Story holds notable victories over Brian Ebersole, Brock Jardine, Thiago Alves, current champion Hendricks and now Nelson. His new-found form and current win streak should push Story into the top 15 welterweights.
The UFC now has some potentially thrilling matchups for Story, including a bout with unbeaten welterweight Ryan LaFlare and a rematch with Pyle. More excitingly, Story has potential matchups with Demian Maia or a returning Carlos Condit. Either way, Rick Story is yet again on the rise. Look out for some very impressive future welterweight bouts.
