Gunnar Nelson

Compare with another fighter

Gunnar Nelson

Nickname“Gunni”

Record

19-6-1

Streak

L1

Age

38

Date of birth

Jul 28, 1988

Fighting out of: Reykjavik
Born: Iceland
Camps: SBG Ireland·Mjolnir
Weight class: Welterweight
Height: 5'11" · 180 cm
Reach: 72" · 183 cm
Stance: Switch
Last fight: Mar 22, 2025

UFC fight history

ResultOpponentMethodDetailEvent

Kevin Holland

#15Kevin Holland

Welterweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Brady · Mar 22, 2025

UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Brady

Bryan Barberena

Bryan Barberena

Welterweight · Submission · Armbar From Mount · R1 · 4:51

UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 · Mar 18, 2023

Armbar From Mount

UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3

Takashi Sato

Welterweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall · Mar 19, 2022

UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall

Gilbert Burns

Welterweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Cannonier · Sep 28, 2019

UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Cannonier

Leon Edwards

Welterweight · Decision · Split · R3 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal · Mar 16, 2019

UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal

Alex Oliveira

#13Alex Oliveira

Welterweight · Submission · Rear Naked Choke · R2 · 4:17

UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega · Dec 8, 2018

Rear Naked Choke

UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega

Santiago Ponzinibbio

#14Santiago Ponzinibbio

Welterweight · KO/TKO · Punches to Head At Distance · R1 · 1:22

UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio · Jul 16, 2017

Punches to Head At Distance

UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio

Alan Jouban

Welterweight · Submission · Guillotine Choke On Ground · R2 · 0:46

UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson · Mar 18, 2017

Guillotine Choke On Ground

UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson

Albert Tumenov

#13Albert Tumenov

Welterweight · Submission · Rear Naked Choke · R2 · 3:15

UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski · May 8, 2016

Rear Naked Choke

UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski

Demian Maia

Welterweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor · Dec 12, 2015

UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor

Brandon Thatch

Welterweight · Submission · Rear Naked Choke · R1 · 2:54

UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor · Jul 11, 2015

Rear Naked Choke

UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor

Rick Story

Welterweight · Decision · Split · R5 · 5:00

UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Story · Oct 4, 2014

UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Story

Zak Cummings

Welterweight · Submission · Rear Naked Choke · R2 · 4:48

UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao · Jul 19, 2014

Rear Naked Choke

UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao

Omari Akhmedov

Welterweight · Submission · Guillotine Choke On Ground · R1 · 4:36

UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa · Mar 8, 2014

Guillotine Choke On Ground

UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa

Jorge Santiago

Welterweight · Decision · Unanimous · R3 · 5:00

UFC on FUEL TV: Barao vs. McDonald · Feb 16, 2013

UFC on FUEL TV: Barao vs. McDonald

DaMarques Johnson

DaMarques Johnson

Catch Weight · Submission · Rear Naked Choke · R1 · 3:34

UFC on FUEL TV: Struve vs. Miocic · Sep 29, 2012

Rear Naked Choke

UFC on FUEL TV: Struve vs. Miocic

Outside the UFC

9-0-1across 10 bouts · 10 promotions · wins by 4 KO · 5 subCC 12 · BAMMA 4 · CC 6 · BAMMA 2 · Adrenaline 3 +5

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Promotion	Date
W	Alexander Butenko57-19-3	Submission	Armbar	R1	4:21	CC 12	Feb 25, 2012
W	Eugene Fadiora13-2	Submission	Rear-Naked Choke	R1	3:51	BAMMA 4	Sep 25, 2010
W	Danny Mitchell20-9-1	Submission	Rear-Naked Choke	R1	2:51	CC 6	Aug 28, 2010
W	Sam Elsdon1-2	Submission	Rear-Naked Choke	R1	2:30	BAMMA 2	Feb 13, 2010
W	Iran Mascarenhas0-4	KO/TKO	Punches	R2	3:22	Adrenaline 3	Sep 6, 2008
W	Barry Mairs1-1	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	3:38	AM 14	Dec 9, 2007
W	Niek Tromp5-3-1	KO/TKO	Submission to Punches	R1	1:50	COT 1	Nov 24, 2007
W	Adam Slawinski1-5	KO/TKO	Punches	R1	2:30	UFR 10	Oct 6, 2007
W	Driss El Bakara3-5-1	Submission	Armbar	R1	3:46	Cage Rage	Sep 29, 2007
D	John Olesen2-0-1	Draw	Split	R3	5:00	Adrenaline 1	May 5, 2007

Non-UFC bouts (regional/other promotions) — shown for context only, excluded from Schedule Score, striking/grappling rates, and every UFC-scoped metric.

Career striking

OverallC44th

61%292 / 477

Striking accuracy

48%

Striking defense

Sig. strikes / min-1.29 differential

Landed1.77

Absorbed3.06

58%str + td

Defensive rating

Striking edge

+9%accuracy vs opp. landing

worseevenbetter

Strike maps

Sig. strikes by target

Head76%35th222
Body16%27th47
Leg8%26th23

Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes

Sig. strikes by position

51%Standing

Standing51%148
Clinch11%31
Ground39%113

Striking zones

Per-15-minute breakdown — where this fighter lands, and where they get hit.

UFC only

Gunnar Nelson

Gunnar Nelson

Landed per 15

Head

D

30th

20.1

30th

Body

F

19th

4.3

19th

Leg

F

14th

2.1

14th

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Absorbed per 15

Head

B

68th

24.0

68th

Body

F

23rd

13.7

23rd

Leg

D

41st

8.2

41st

Ranks are division percentiles — e.g. 90th = top 10% of the weight class. Higher is always better: on “absorbed” rows the rank is inverted, so a high rank means they get hit less.

Career totals — landed / attempted

Landed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	20.1	222	391	57%
Body	4.3	47	59	80%
Leg	2.1	23	27	85%

Absorbed (career total)

Zone	Per 15	Landed	Attempted	Accuracy
Head	24.0	265	686	39%
Body	13.7	151	197	77%
Leg	8.2	90	106	85%

UFCStats career rates, per 15 minutes. Percentiles vs the division; absorbed is inverted so higher is better.

Pace & fade

Round-by-round work rate, and whether they fade.

UFC only

Gunnar Nelson

Gunnar Nelson

16 UFC bouts (per‑round) · 165 min

100%

R3 pace · 7 bouts

Nelson fades (-10% per round through round 3). Within fights that reached round 3, Nelson sustains 100% of round-1 output by round 3 (7 bouts).

Gunnar Nelson

Nelson ▼ FADESOutput / min

Faded points are drawn from a single bout that reached that round, so they’re less reliable than the solid points averaged over many fights.

Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.

Full per-round breakdown

What drives the pace · per round

The composite output line above blends these three inputs — splitting them out shows whether the work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control, and which input fades.

Sig. strikes landed

Gunnar Nelson

Nelsonlanded / min

Takedown attempts

Gunnar Nelson

Nelsonattempts / min

Control time

Gunnar Nelson

Nelson% of round

Round	Output / min	Sig landed / min	Sig absorbed / min	TD att / min	Control	Bouts
R1	4.2	1.9	2.5	0.28	38%	16
R2	4.1	1.7	2.9	0.27	39%	11
R3	3.4	1.3	2.8	0.23	36%	7
R4	2.6	2.0	8.2	0.20	0%	1
R5	3.2	3.2	9.6	0.00	0%	1

Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length.

Schedule Score

Opponent quality, ranked across the UFC. Recent fights weighted heavier.

UFC only

Gunnar Nelson

Gunnar Nelson

16 resolved UFC bouts · 7 ranked at the time

Schedule Score

46/ 100

0255075100

Schedule strength

A

78th

49%

78th

Win quality

C

54th

41%

54th

Opponent quality distribution

Every UFC bout, grouped by who the opponent was at the time.

2

5

2

2

3

ChampionHeld the title in this weight class at the time
Top-5Ranked #1–#5 at the time
Ranked 6–15Ranked #6–#15 at the time
Cross-div rankedRanked #1–#15 in another division at the time
Contender-level8+ UFC wins entering the bout, ≥.55 win rate
Building3+ UFC fights, ≥.40 win rate
UnprovenFewer than 3 fights, or sub-.40 win rate

Tier	Bouts	Record	Win rate
Champion	1	0-1	0%
Top-5	2	0-2	0%
Ranked 6–15	5	2-3	40%
Cross-div ranked	1	1-0	100%
Contender-level	2	2-0	100%
Building	2	2-0	100%
Unproven	3	3-0	100%

Highest-quality opponents

Toughest opponents on the scheduleScore, scored at the time of the fight.

All bouts — opponent quality bout-by-bout

Res	Opponent	Tier	Score	Date
L	Kevin Holland#15	Ranked 6–15	63	Mar 22, 2025
W	Bryan Barberena	Building	28	Mar 18, 2023
W	Takashi Sato	Unproven	12	Mar 19, 2022
L	Gilbert Burns	Top-5	74	Sep 28, 2019
L	Leon Edwards#9	Champion	90	Mar 16, 2019
W	Alex Oliveira#13	Ranked 6–15	63	Dec 8, 2018
L	Santiago Ponzinibbio#14	Ranked 6–15	69	Jul 16, 2017
W	Alan Jouban	Contender-level	40	Mar 18, 2017
W	Albert Tumenov#13	Ranked 6–15	63	May 8, 2016
L	Demian Maia#6	Top-5	85	Dec 12, 2015
W	Brandon Thatch	Unproven	12	Jul 11, 2015
L	Rick Story#15	Ranked 6–15	67	Oct 4, 2014
W	Zak Cummings	Contender-level	32	Jul 19, 2014
W	Omari Akhmedov	Cross-div ranked	32	Mar 8, 2014
W	Jorge Santiago	Unproven	8	Feb 16, 2013
W	DaMarques Johnson	Building	18	Sep 29, 2012

Per-bout quality scoring: champion = 100; same-division ranks 1–5 = 90 → 78 linear; ranks 6–15 = 75 → 60 linear; cross-division champion = 78; cross-division ranked = 45; title-fight challenger (no rank signal) = 50, bumped to 65 when opp had an elite career UFC record at the time. Unranked opponents are scored on UFC record-at-time (long-tenured vet 60, contender-level 45, established 30, building 18, unproven 8). P4P top-10 at time adds +5; top-3 adds +8 (capped at 100). The Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) and quality wins (35%), then is held toward a rookie baseline for fighters with limited UFC experience so a thin résumé reads honestly low.

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