Last night Gunnar Nelson showed that his overall fight game continues to improve as he secured a second round submission victory over Alan Jouban at UFC London.
After an impressive first round, Nelson continued his dominance in round two connecting with a straight right hand which rocked Jouban before following up with a head kick. Instead of swarming on his opponent with strikes, the SBG man chose to snap Jouban to the ground where he immediately looked to sink in a guillotine which resulted in the finish. Nelson’s decision to go for the submission impressed many spectators, however, speaking in his post-fight presser Nelson believes he simply chose the most clinical method of finishing the fight.
“You know at that point it was just the most obvious opening for me,” Nelson told the media at UFC London. “I thought the way it went was just the most clinical really instead of running into him and throwing a bunch of shots to get the knockout. He was out there was no need to give him a few more punches to the face, he’s a pretty guy aswell he’s a model aswell there was no need.”
This was Nelson’s second consecutive victory after defeating Albert Tumenov last year and the welterweight now believes he is becoming a more strategic fighter which has helped improve his overall performances in the Octagon.
“I don’t know what it is exactly I just think my mind is changing a little towards the fight itself and the way i’m thinking or not thinking when i’m in there. The part of my head which deals with strategy has changed a little bit and i’m using it more whereas before it was pure killer instinct you know just going in there doing what I know and doing it as soon as possible. It’s changed a bit now and I think that’s needed to go all the way in this but still i’m always going to look for the finish, I think it just makes it easier this way instead of going auto-pilot doing all your moves and maybe get the decision.”
Nelson on the importance of rebounding from loss to Rick Story
Other than his loss to Demian Maia, the 28-year old’s only other defeat came at the hands of Rick Story but Nelson believes that experience has helped him improve as a fighter and is an example of when he has been reckless in his previous bouts.
“That’s a good example of where I go into a bit of an auto-pilot mode and don’t really think and then I watch the fight and I think what the hell was I doing you know what I mean. Not taking anything from Rick Story he;s a great fighter very tough but yeah I did learn a lot from that fight. When it comes to just changing the pace of the fight, you know you might even do the exact same moves but just do them differently do them in a different pace, different timing just watch your opponent a little bit and stalk them.”
After his victory last night “Gunni” stated he hopes to fight another two times this year and that he wouldn’t say no to the chance of fighting in Europe again but for now he is ‘just looking to get home to his family and get back to the gym.
