– Paul Dollery reports from Las Vegas
THERE WAS DISAPPOINTMENT for Gunnar Nelson tonight at UFC 194 as he was comprehensively defeated by Demian Maia.
Nelson, an Icelandic welterweight who is a member of Ireland’s Straight Blast Gym team, suffered a unanimous-decision loss (30-26, 30-25, 30-25) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In a meeting of two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, the grappling enthusiasts got what they wanted in the first round as Maia immediately shot for a takedown.
The Brazilian dominated the exchanges and eventually ended up in full mount, but Nelson was defending well. As the round drew to a close, Maia capitalised on a body triangle to transition for an armbar but Nelson performed a superb escape, which was met with rapturous applause by the Irish fans in attendance.
The grappling contest continued in the second round and it was all one-way traffic as Maia showed why he’s widely regarded as MMA’s leading BJJ practitioner. Again, Nelson defended bravely but despite being one of the best grapplers in the game himself, the SBG fighter was being taught a lesson by the crafty 38-year-old.
It was a similar story in the third and final frame, as Maia mixed takedowns with with a relentless hail of elbows and punches to continue his dominance. Maia attacked for a rear-naked choke late on but Nelson rode out the storm and the judges awarded Maia his fourth consecutive win.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” Maia said. “There were a couple of small mistakes but overall I think the scores from the judges showed how dominant I was.
“We knew that Gunnar was going to be very, very tough because he asked for this fight. Anytime a guy asks to compete against you they usually think they have the advantage.
“My jiu-jitsu is very good and any time I’m able to show what my coaches and my team are capable of doing I really enjoy it. I’m very healthy coming out of this fight. Hopefully the fans enjoyed the bout and I look forward to doing it for them again soon.”
