Gunnar Nelson (fighter) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gunnar Nelson (born July 28, 1988) is an Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic professional mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

practitioner.

Early life

Nelson played both football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

and ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

in his childhood years. At the age of 13, he started training in Gōjū-ryū Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

and won the Icelandic Juvenile Kumite Championship title in 2003. He retained the title consecutively for 3 years, winning it again in 2004 and 2005. He took home medals in every karate tournament he participated in over the years of 2003 to 2005. In 2005 he was chosen Iceland's most promising up-and-coming karate talent of the year at 16 years of age. He soon gave up karate to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

and grappling

Grappling

Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...

, then aged 17.
Gunnar's father is of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and Icelandic

Iceland

descent, his mother is Icelandic

Iceland

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

In 2009, Nelson received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie is a Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. and a former mixed martial arts competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship . He is member of the Gracie family of Brazil. He is the son of Robson Gracie, grandson of Carlos Gracie, nephew of Carlos...

, earned with an outstanding performance that year, which includes a silver in the 2009 Mundials brown belt category, gold at the 2009 Pan American Championship (Gi), gold and silver (open class) in the 2009 Pan American Championship (No-Gi) and of course the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

-Over 99 kg :-Under 99 kg :-Under 88 kg :-Under 77 kg :-Under 66 kg :-Women's over 60 kg :-Women's under 60 kg :-Superfight:...

where Gunnar took 4th place in the absolute category. Nelson also has a grappling victory over touted BJJ Black Belt Jeff Monson

Jeff Monson

Jeffrey William Monson is an American mixed martial artist from Olympia, Washington. He is a 2 time winner of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, and a No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion. He currently holds the Heavyweight titles in the International Sport Karate Association...

He splits his time between Reykjavík, where he is an instructor at the local MMA club Mjölnir, and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he trains at the Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie

Academy.

Mixed martial arts career

In May 2007, Nelson fought in mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

for the first time, in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. The fight was against the more experienced Danish fighter, John Olesen, who is considered by some as one of Denmark's top prospects. The Danish judges ruled the fight a draw.

After this, he won five fights in-a-row in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and Denmark before taking a break from the sport for almost two years. He returned at BAMMA 2: Roundhouses at the Roundhouse
BAMMA 2
BAMMA 2: OMER vs. REED was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on February 13, 2010 at The Roundhouse in London, England. The event was televised on Bravo in the United Kingdom....

in February 2010 and defeating his opponent Sam Elsdon via submission in the first round. He also won his next fight before returning to BAMMA

BAMMA

The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is considered by many as the biggest MMA promotion in the country. It premièred on June 27, 2009 and was shown on the television channel Bravo...

later that year at BAMMA 4: Reid vs. Watson
BAMMA 4
BAMMA 4: WATSON vs. REID was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on September 25, 2010 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. The event was televised on Bravo in the United Kingdom.-Background:...

in September where he faced previously unbeaten British prospect Eugene Fadiora

Eugene Fadiora

Eugene Fadiora is an English mixed martial artist, who fights at Welterweight and Middleweight.-Biography:...

. He won the fight by yet another submission, in the first round.He currently has MMA career on hold due to him accepting an invite to ADCC 2011.

Mixed martial arts record

|-
|Win
|align=center|8-0-1
|

Eugene Fadiora

Eugene Fadiora is an English mixed martial artist, who fights at Welterweight and Middleweight.-Biography:...

|Submission (neck crank)
|BAMMA 4

BAMMA 4

BAMMA 4: WATSON vs. REID was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on September 25, 2010 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. The event was televised on Bravo in the United Kingdom.-Background:...

|
|align=center|1
|align=center|3:51
|Birmingham, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|7-0-1
|

Danny Mitchell
|Submission (rear naked choke)
|Cage Contender VI
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:51
|Manchester, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|6-0-1
|

Sam Elsdon
| Submission (rear naked choke)
| BAMMA 2

BAMMA 2

BAMMA 2: OMER vs. REED was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on February 13, 2010 at The Roundhouse in London, England. The event was televised on Bravo in the United Kingdom....

|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:30
|London, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|5-0-1
|

Iran Mascarenhas
| KO
| Adrenaline 3 - Evolution
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|3:22
|Copenhagen, Denmark
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|4-0-1
|

England

|
|-
|Win
|align=center|3-0-1
|

Niek Tromp
| Submission (punches)
| COT - Cage of Truth
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|1:50
|Dublin, Ireland
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|2-0-1
|

Adam Slawinski
| TKO
| UFR 10 - Ultimate Fighting Revolution 10
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:30
|Galway, Ireland
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|1-0-1
|

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