Fighting out of Reykjavik, Iceland, Gunnar “Gunni” Nelson, 30, has earned his eighth victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was one of the winners at “UFC 231” at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on December 8, 2018.
“UFC 231” featured 13 mixed martial arts bouts. In the ninth bout of the evening, Nelson and Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, 30, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil battled it out in the welterweight division.
Referee Jerin Valel put a stop to the welterweight bout between Nelson and Oliveira after 4 minutes and 17 seconds in the second round. The Icelander submitted his Brazilian opponent via rear-naked choke.
Losing to Nelson downgraded Oliveira’s professional MMA record to 19 wins and 6 losses. On the other hand, the Reykjavik native now has 17 wins and 3 losses.
Nelson won his first four bouts in the UFC. In his promotional debut, which was at “UFC on Fuel TV 5” on September 29, 2012, he submitted DaMarques “Darkness” Johnson, 36, of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States via rear-naked choke in the first round.
Training out of Mjölnir MMA in Reykjavik and Straight Blast Gym Ireland in Dublin, Ireland, Nelson has been competing
The Icelandic MMA fighter has been competing professionally since 2007. The other opponents he defeated in the UFC octagon were Jorge “The Sandman” Santiago, 28, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Omari “Wolverine” Akhmedov, 31, of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, Zak Cummings, 34, of Springfield, Missouri, USA, Brandon “Rukus” Thatch, 33, of Denver, Colorado, USA, Albert “Einstein” Tumenov, 26, of Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia and Alan “Brahma” Jouban, 36, of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA.
Including Iceland, Brazil and the U.S., eight countries were represented at “UFC 231.” The other countries were Austria, Canada, England, Peru and Poland.
In the co-main event of the evening, Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko, 30, of Lima, Peru and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, 31, of Olsztyn, Poland competed for the vacant UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship title. After five five-minute rounds, the Kyrgyzstani-Peruvian fighter won via unanimous decision.
In the main event, Brian “T-City” Ortega, 27, of Torrance, California, United States challenged reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Max “Blessed” Holloway, 27, of Waianae, Hawaii, United States. The defending champion won via technical knockout due to doctor stoppage.
Watch the post-fight “UFC 231” backstage interview with Nelson here:
Check the complete “UFC 231” results here.
