Let me tell you all about a man named Gunnar Nelson

[HuskySamoan]

The year was 2009 and I heard word of a BJJ phenom who was awarded a Renzo Gracie black belt after less than 4 years of training, I heard he was beating Heavyweight black belts as a 20 year old 165lb kid. When I looked him up I found out he had won the Pan Ams at Brown Belt both in the Gi and out of the Gi, he also was a multiple time Icelandic Karate champion and to my surprise he was already a 5-0-1 pro MMA fighter! At this point I was telling everyone about Gunnar Nelson, I was posting threads on the UG and the UFC forums saying that this man had to be signed, that he could be a champion one day. He was one of the greatest prospects in MMA history, whether you knew it or not. He also made his pro debut at 18 years old in MMA.

Yup, that's a 21 year old Gunnar Nelson's hand being raised at the 2009 ADCCs when he beat Jeff Monson in the absolute division, can you believe that? For you white belts, Jeff Monson was the 2005 ADCC Gold medalist and 2009 Bronze Medalist and a former UFC HW title challenger.

Gunnar Nelson's career in the UFC started out pretty emphatically, he won his first 4 fights even dropping and submitting 13-1 Dagestani Sambo World champion Omari Akhmedov who dwarfed him in size (Akhmedov now competes at 205lbs haha). He hit some rough patches after that vs Rick Story in a split decision and getting dominated by Damian Maia but it's important to understand that not every career ends up the way you expect it to, and that's for a lot of reasons. I always felt Gunnar Nelson is the reason Gunnar Nelson wasn't a UFC champion, he didn't cut weight...he mostly just skipped a meal to weigh in like Frankie Edgar used to at LW and while he got close with the Irish boys and did some training out of SBG, for the most part he never liked leaving Iceland and didn't much see a reason to train abroad. While he had good takedowns and back takes for a BJJ guy I always thought if he had a proper wrestling coach and spent more time with good wrestlers in the training rooms his grappling would have been tenfold the problem that it was. He also never really developed his striking much beyond what it was very early on into his career and I think that also was in part due to him staying in Iceland. Gunnar should have always fought in the UFC at 155lbs, I remember even saying this back in 2012 when he made his UFC debut.

I think Gunnar was always his own fighter, he didn't seem too concerned with being at the right weight, with fame, money or even being a champ really. He owns his gym, he coaches, he fights and competes, he has a lovely family and he did it his way. I think he always had a sense of pride in overcoming the size of his opponents as well. I just got the impression through the years he kind of faded into the roster despite having a successful career 19-5-1 (10-5 in the UFC with 8 submissions) and I'm not even sure how many fans these days know about Gunnar Nelson and where he came from.

Gunnar Nelson will always be my boy.

 

[HuskySamoan]

 

[UFConFOX]

Nah, sounds like those Khabib stories you dismiss so easily. I mean Javier has only coached Cain, DC, Luke, and Islam as recent modern-day champs. I'm sure he's just singled out Khabib for that type of praise b/c Khabib's ego is so fragile he has to be propped up like a kid and told he's the best. LOL he's never said the shit about any of his other champions or studs that he's said about Khabib but yes...lets just dismiss it out of hand.

So sounds like this Gunnar guy's got some gym training stories also, eh? Also, are you Indian, like me?

[80/20 that I delete this post when I wake up for real, we'll see]

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Awesome!
Thanks for sharing
Ill check out some of his fights

 

[fortheo]

His quick rise on the BJJ scene was legendary. He's very obviously his own person and on his own journey, and I don't think he ever got into MMA to be champ, but rather just to live the life of a martial artist. I had to let go of any hopes of him becoming a contender many years ago because of that. Once I stopped having any expectations of him as a prospect, though, I started enjoying his fights even more. Any time he's on a card, I always look forward to seeing his ground game.

 

[Banana Tree's Nemesis]

One the most underrated guys. Unfortunately he never liked the spotlights, and wasn't really able to perform at championship level, wether due to a lack of ability to keep up at higher paced fights or a lack of hunger. His later losses are all far above average guys. Prime Ponzi, Leon and Gilbert.
Tbh though since he kinda prefers not to be too involved in all of the media stuff, I think in some way his career has turned out the best way possible for him on a personal level.
Managed to receive relatively little damage throughout and had some clean performances against formidable opponents.
In knew Leon was the shit when he outwrestled Gunni.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Nah, sounds like those Khabib stories you dismiss so easily. I mean Javier has only coached Cain, DC, Luke, and Islam as recent modern-day champs. I'm sure he's just singled out Khabib for that type of praise b/c Khabib's ego is so fragile he has to be propped up like a kid and told he's the best. LOL he's never said the shit about any of his other champions or studs that he's said about Khabib but yes...lets just dismiss it out of hand.

So sounds like this Gunnar guy's got some gym training stories also, eh? Also, are you Indian, like me?

[80/20 that I delete this post when I wake up for real, we'll see]

I was and still am a huge Khabib fanboy, I was there for his UFC debut, I was talking about Dagestan before most of you guys knew what a Dagestan was. I joined a Sambo gym at 15 because of Fedor, I watched those stained glass regional Khabib fights when I heard he got signed to the UFC and was making threads in 2010 about how Russia was the future for MMA and how popular and devoted many Russian regions were to combat sports and all the potential that they had. I can be skeptical of Javier Mendez's stories and for good reason, I can even think there were LWs out there that could have given Khabib trouble...This doesn't make me a hater or delusional, people can appreciate the same things and have differing opinions. This thread has nothing to do with Khabib though.

Also this isn't 6 second cut clips of Khabib working with an olympic wrestler making him look good nor is it Javier's hyperbolic stories and it's definitely not some low level NAGA tournament...Gunnar Nelson actually got silver at brown belt worlds and won gold in and out of the Gi at brown belt in the Pan Ams after only a couple years of training. Gunanr actually beat Jeff Monson in a grappling match and competed at the ADCCs. There's a difference.

 

[MigitAs]

Gunnar is not a legend

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Training at SBG didn't do him any favours

 

[LouisBolanos]

It's hard to care about him as an MMA fighter when he doesn't even care much about it himself. The guy fights less than once per year, says he's more focused on coaching than fighting and when asked what's next all we got was a "dunno, we'll see". Okay? If you care so little about your own career, why the fuck should anyone else care?

 

[HuskySamoan]

It's hard to care about him as an MMA fighter when he doesn't even care much about it himself. The guy fights less than once per year, says he's more focused on coaching than fighting and when asked what's next all we got was a "dunno, we'll see". Okay? If you care so little about your own career, why the fuck should anyone else care?

No ones making you care, just like no ones asking you to comment. I for one appreciate talent even if some careers pan out better than others or guys squander their potential. Gunnar's career reminds me so much of Kelvin Gastelum's, I always felt if he got his weight under control and had the drive to be in the gym year round he could have been a champion at 170lbs and his ceiling as a fighter always seemed much higher to me than Colby or Kamaru's did. I also scored the Tyron Woodley vs Gastelum fight for Gastelum. But Kelvin liked his food and wasn't very disciplined, he always said he planned to go back down to 170lbs but never actually bothered...he just didn't want it as bad as others did, but his potential and talent were so freaking undeniable.

 

[Deleted member 579771]

His loss to Maia didn't age well.

 

[HuskySamoan]

His loss to Maia didn't age well.

Sure it did, the Maia who beat Dong Hyun Kim, Ricky Story, Jon Fitch, Neil Magny, Carlos Condit and Jorge Masvidal is one of the best WW's to never win a title in UFC history. That was when Maia was most dominant, maybe a little old still but he found his right weight class and hit his fighting prime. Gunnar fought Maia in the middle of his prime where he went 10-2 at WW with a bevy of top 10 wins before losing to Woodley for the title. Losing to a great fighter in their prime isn't a loss that ages poorly, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about.

Losing to or even beating a guy right as he ended up dropping off or after he dropped off is a win or loss that ages poorly, Gunnar's loss was the complete opposite. You could say Jorge Masvidal's loss to Maia aged poorly because after that fight Maia would go on to go 3-5 in his next 8 and retire. However Gunnar? That loss aged super well lol.

 

[HerpDerp]

Gunnar is not a legend

His MMA career perhaps isn't if you look at his achievements alone, but as a martial artist, he certainly is legendary to me. Bushidō through and through.

Gunnar will always be underrated and disliked by some simply via association to Conor, even though he basically cut ties with the guy as soon as Conor started going off the rails.

 

[RespectTheWarriors]

Maia beat him 30-25 on two scorecards in a strictly grappling oriented fight. Levels.

(To be fair, there was a noticeable size difference.)

 

[Flower2dPeople]

His quick rise on the BJJ scene was legendary. He's very obviously his own person and on his own journey, and I don't think he ever got into MMA to be champ, but rather just to live the life of a martial artist. I had to let go of any hopes of him becoming a contender many years ago because of that. Once I stopped having any expectations of him as a prospect, though, I started enjoying his fights even more. Any time he's on a card, I always look forward to seeing his ground game.

Agree 100%. He's living the life that Bruce Lee only talked about.

 

[ExitLUPin]

His quick rise on the BJJ scene was legendary. He's very obviously his own person and on his own journey, and I don't think he ever got into MMA to be champ, but rather just to live the life of a martial artist. I had to let go of any hopes of him becoming a contender many years ago because of that. Once I stopped having any expectations of him as a prospect, though, I started enjoying his fights even more. Any time he's on a card, I always look forward to seeing his ground game.

This is how I've felt about it. Never felt he wanted to really be a champ. Didn't want to go out of his comfort zone a whole lot out of Iceland and that's fine.

Story decision was technically split it was one of the worst scorecards ever. Story won easily and beat him up mostly, dropped him too. I don't think Gunnar is underrated as some say tho he never evolved his game to a point and seemed satisfied just with where he was.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Maia beat him 30-25 on two scorecards in a strictly grappling oriented fight. Levels.

(To be fair, there was a noticeable size difference.)

Absolutely levels, Maia had close to 20lbs on Gunnar and was far more experienced. Also, lets be real, Maia had hit his stride at this point like I had mentioned, the Gunnar win was smack in the middle of his 10-2 run at WW before he got his title shot vs Woodley. He beat guys like Dong Hyun Kim, Rick Story, Carlos Condit, Jon Fitch, Jorge Masvidal and Neil Magny during that run too. Maia was an ADCC Gold Medalist and billion time BJJ world champion too.

 

[HerpDerp]

Maia beat him 30-25 on two scorecards in a strictly grappling oriented fight. Levels.

(To be fair, there was a noticeable size difference.)

There certainly are levels to things, Maia's grappling just happens to be the overtuned hidden boss level of MMA. The only guy who went position to position with him and managed to hold his own is Shields, who is also a grappling god in his own right.

Also, keep in mind that Gunnar went into that fight with the mindset of testing his grappling against the absolute best grappler in MMA history. I really don't hold that fight against him, he gave the fans exactly what we wanted to see and it simply wasn't enough to pull through with the win. In fact, I respect him even more for doing that.

 

[Flower2dPeople]

Sure it did, the Maia who beat Dong Hyun Kim, Ricky Story, Jon Fitch, Neil Magny, Carlos Condit and Jorge Masvidal is one of the best WW's to never win a title in UFC history. That was when Maia was most dominant, maybe a little old still but he found his right weight class and hit his fighting prime. Gunnar fought Maia in the middle of his prime where he went 10-2 at WW with a bevy of top 10 wins before losing to Woodley for the title. Losing to a great fighter in their prime isn't a loss that ages poorly, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about.

Losing to or even beating a guy right as he ended up dropping off or after he dropped off is a win or loss that ages poorly, Gunnar's loss was the complete opposite. You could say Jorge Masvidal's loss to Maia aged poorly because after that fight Maia would go on to go 3-5 in his next 8 and retire. However Gunnar? That loss aged super well lol.

Maia may have a lost a step but he's still schooling youngsters.