LONDON, United Kingdom — Gunnar Nelson made his sixth UFC appearance in London at UFC 286 last weekend, with only Makwan Amirkhani making more fights in the capital.
The unique veteran has another win, this time over the extremely tough Brian Barberena. Going into the fight, both Nelson and Barberena knew that the Icelandic fighters had a clear advantage on the field. Unfortunately for Barberena, he found out the hard way.
Despite being thrown to the ground, the Gym-O fighter did his best to distract Gunnar before getting back up. “I could tell he was a tough guy and I did it my way, I was on the ground on top of him and he poked me a little bit and I watched him smile and he started having the funniest laugh,” Nelson told The O2 Speaking to the media, including Cageside Press, Arena Backstage recalled.
“It was the first time I actually started laughing in the middle of a fight. It was like I was actually laughing,” Gunnar said.
Gunnar Nelson has been a regular member of SBG Ireland for a long part of his career and became part of the UFC Dublin card in 2014. So he admits that night was “one of the best nights I’ve ever had”.
“I mean UFC Dublin was one of the best nights I’ve ever had, it was amazing. It was great to be back there [Dublin],” He said.
With Conor McGregor on the verge of returning (after coaching at TUF 31), depending on how long he sticks around, we could see the UFC return to the Irish capital with a big event, while Gunnar Nelson will retain a spot.
Watch welterweight Gunnar Nelson’s full UFC 286 post-fight press conference above.