Gunnar was embarrassed by Maia because he was too confident that he can beat him at his own game

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All the interviews and statements by Gunnar before the fight point in that direction. He made wild claims about how he sees himself submitting Maia, how his "MMA jiu jitsu" is better than Maia's and how it's not about how many people you beat but how you beat them ergo basically claiming that by submitting Maia he should be given a title shot

I like Gunnar as a fighter and as a person but he was completely delusional before that fight. He truly believed he's able to choke out Maia in a spectacular fashion and get an immediate title shot this way. Before the fight he said that he's looking ahead for the grappling scrambles, he thought that he can bring the fight to Maia when it comes to grappling.

Well his gameplan went horribly horribly wrong and his face here his tells more than 1000 words, no need to relive this fight...

demian-maia-wrestles-with-gunnar-nelson-in-a-welterweight-fight-ufc-picture-id501174978


I still believe that he's a legit fighter that could beat Maia if he goes into the fight with only one goal and that is to keep it standing at all costs and use his BJJ just to survive the worst case scenario.

He's a bit underrated and his problem is that he doesn't want to cut weight and is massively undersized but I really like his striking game, I'd actually like to see a rematch with Maia provided he has no delusions about his "MMA jiu jitsu" anymore.
 
Gunni will be back - it just sucks for him that WW is a shark tank, I think he's way to small.
You can barely blame him for being overconfident, dude is used to being pretty much the best grappler in the room save for his instructors.
Dude was a blackbelt in three years of training - transitioned to MMA and thought he'd be better than everyone in the sport.

Maia just schooled him and showed him that BJJ is BJJ period, and he still has a bit to learn.
 
Its never fun to be schooled by the backpack assassin
 
He was beaten because Maia is better.
 
Well to be fair even Chael underestimated him.
That was one of the sickest subs in MMA history!
 
He was beaten because Maia is better.

Better at BJJ definitely but Gunnar has much better striking. IMO he has a chance if he gameplans correctly but everything he said before the fight confirms that Gunnar was eager to grapple with Maia which was a massive monumental mistake from his part
 
You cant blame the guy for challenging the only guy in the division with BJJ better than his. I honestly think he just really underestimated the improved wrestling of Maia
 
You cant blame the guy for challenging the only guy in the division with BJJ better than his. I honestly think he just really underestimated the improved wrestling of Maia

In the interview I posted he said that he won't "disengage" from grappling, it wasn't like he wanted to fight Maia's wrestling to not end up on the ground, he simply didn't care about it thinking his BJJ is enough to not only save him but even submit Maia (lol)
 
Better at BJJ definitely but Gunnar has much better striking. IMO he has a chance if he gameplans correctly but everything he said before the fight confirms that Gunnar was eager to grapple with Maia which was a massive monumental mistake from his part

Gunnar wasn't good enough to stop Maia from doing what he did to him in either round to use his better striking. Each round starts on the feet. Don't make excuses for Gunnar. He's a good fighter. Maia just outclassed him every round.
 
Sherdog was also very confident in Nelson as well.
 
Not really.

Anyone who can lateral drop Chael is elite though.

I completely agree that Maia is elite. But who can resist gently mocking the notion that subbing Chael was a breakthrough moment for him?
 
Not really.

Anyone who can lateral drop Chael is elite though.

Anyone who can pull guard and sweep into a mounted triangle in less than two minutes is elite.

That's my single favorite submission of all time.

Also, people insinuating submitting Sonnen makes you elite is funny, lol.
 
It was horrible to watch
Yeah
but remember, dude is a prodigy
He had some standing to be a little arrogant, it was a good learning experience for him

With gameplanning he might be able to beat Maia, plus father time is on his side. He'll get better.
 
if he thinks that he has better mma bjj than maia he needs to be chained to a clothes line to run around and play
 
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