Gunnar Nelson

Overview

Ten UFC wins, eight by submission, and not one by knockout. Gunnar Nelson, "Gunni" to the crowd, is a Welterweight out of Mjölnir in Reykjavik who stands 10-6 in the UFC and has never won a fight on the scorecards unless he had to: his only two decision wins came late in a three-rounder.

The other side of the ledger is just as lopsided. Of his six UFC losses, five went to the judges and one to a knockout. He submits people or he goes the distance and loses a close one.

Four of his eight submissions came in the first round, four in the second. He finishes early or not at all.

UFC Career

Nelson debuted in September 2012 with a first-round submission of DaMarques Johnson at 3:34, then went the distance against Jorge Santiago. Back-to-back submissions of Omari Akhmedov and Zak Cummings in 2014 pushed him to four straight wins, still his longest streak.

It ended in his first main event. He headlined against Rick Story in a five-round fight and lost a split decision at 5:00 of round five. A first-round submission of Brandon Thatch at UFC 189 followed, then a unanimous decision loss to Demian Maia, an opponent our model rates as elite.

The middle of his run is where he looked best. He submitted Albert Tumenov and Alan Jouban, the second in 46 seconds of round two, both opponents our model rates as strong. Then came the one blemish that isn't a decision: a first-round KO/TKO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio in a main event, over at 1:22.

He returned with a submission of Alex Oliveira, then lost three straight decisions to Leon Edwards (split), Gilbert Burns and, after a long layoff, Kevin Holland. In between he beat Takashi Sato on the cards and submitted Bryan Barberena in round one of UFC 286.

He carries a one-fight losing streak into his next bout.

Fighting Style

Nelson is a grappler first and a volume striker last. He throws far less than most UFC fighters, but he lands a high share of what he throws and takes fewer shots than most.

The grappling is where he stands out. He is very hard to take down, he looks for takedowns more often than most, and he hunts for submissions at a rate well above the rest of the division.

The finishing record matches that. All eight of his finishes are submissions, with no knockouts, and every one came inside two rounds: four in the first and four in the second.

When the submission doesn't come, his fights tend to go the distance. Five of his six losses were decisions.

Notable Wins

• Alan Jouban — submission, round 2 at 0:46, UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson (2017)
• Albert Tumenov — submission, round 2, UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski (2016)
• Alex Oliveira — submission, round 2, UFC 231 (2018)
• Brandon Thatch — submission, round 1, UFC 189 (2015)

Quick Facts

• Division: Welterweight
• UFC record: 10-6
• Professional record (all promotions): 19-6-1
• UFC debut: 2012
• Stance: Switch
• Height / reach: 5'11" / 72"
• Team: Mjölnir, Reykjavik Iceland
• Born: Akureyri, Iceland