The last time Nelson made the trek to Canada’s western-most province, he registered a unanimous decision win Blake Bilder, the first official Canuck to score a victory that evening after his teammate and adopted Canadian Diana Belbita kicked off the event with a win over Maria Oliveira.
As much as it was a successful night at the office and halted a 3-fight stretch without a victory, the familiarity of stepping into the Octagon and competing in front of a packed arena are the elements Nelson identifies with most heading into this weekend.
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“It’s nice it’s in Canada — it’s in (British Columbia) so it’s the exact opposite side of Canada, but it’s still in Canada, so that’s nice,” the Ontario resident said with a smile. “I’ve been there before, it was a couple years ago, so I don’t imagine it’s going to be super-familiar.
“The Octagon is familiar. The crowd, whether it’s a hometown crowd or an away crowd, it’s always a bunch of people in the stands, so that’s familiar; it will be nice to have them cheering for me again. But I go out, and I perform. It’s exciting it’s in Canada, but the crowd is generally the same, the Octagon is always the same, and it’s usually the same UFC crew behind the scenes, so it always feels similar.”
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