“I Could Feel a Pop” – Gunnar Nelson Says Grappling Match With the Mountain Has Kept Him Out of Action

Gunnar Nelson is often regarded as one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the UFC. He started his MMA career in 2007 and made his UFC debut in 2012. However, the Icelandic fighter hasn’t competed since 2019, and now he’s revealed the reason behind it.

Nelson, in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, talked about his absence from the sport. According to him, it’s because of two injuries. The first was before the Gilbert Burns fight at UFC Fight Night 160. He recovered from the injury after the fight. However, later he got an injury that was worse than the previous one.

While talking about the second injury, he said, “You’ve probably seen the video of me and ‘The Mountain’ rolling. This is where it happened actually. I haven’t even spoken to him about it. I don’t think he knows but I think this is the first time I’ve spoken about it… It was fun, I enjoyed it but I wanted to get an armbar from the bottom. It was a mission because obviously, it’s a hard thing with somebody like him. He knows a little bit. He knows how to use his weight a bit and he’s 160 kilos (352 pounds) of pure muscle.”

“So, I catch him with an armbar from the top, but I’m thinking I want to get it from the bottom. As I tried to do that, in the second round or something, he collapses on top of me and I could feel a pop. Very shortly after, and I mean seconds after, I could feel it all swelling up. Something in me was like, I’m not going to say anything now… I’m just thinking, I have to wait for him to show his neck, and we can get this over with,” he added.

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Gunnar Nelson vs. Khamzat Chimaev – Can this fight happen?

Gunnar Nelson is on his road to recovery and looking to make a comeback. He and his team are looking at 2022 and he confirmed that in the interview. He said, “We’ve been talking, I’ve been hearing about London in March. It sounds perfect.”

Nelson’s coach, John Kavanagh, who’s also the coach of Conor McGregor, in a recent tweet teased a fight against Khamzat Chimaev. In the tweet, he said, “its been very interesting watching the rise of the uber-talented and charismatic @KChimaev. @ufc is coming to London in March. as a fan, i’d love to see him fight @GunniNelson. short flight to london for both of them…. what you guys think? @seanshelby @HalliNelson.”

When asked about the matchup, Nelson said, “Yeah, you know I’ll fight anybody. If he wants to fight me, then let’s do it. He’s very good.”

Chimaev, ever since his debut in the UFC, has been creating headlines. He has steamrolled through his opponents up until now and is looking for a fight. Even though Nelson hasn’t competed in over two years, he can give ‘Borz‘ a run for his money and this can make for an interesting fight.

Would you like to see Gunnar Nelson fight Khamzat Chimaev? Let us know in the comments!

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