Gunnar Nelson Record, Stats & Next Fight

UFC fight history

Res	Opponent	Outcome	Finish	Rd	Time	Event	Date
L	#15Kevin Holland Welterweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Brady	Mar 22, 2025
W	Bryan Barberena Welterweight	Submission	Armbar From Mount	R1	4:51	UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3	Mar 18, 2023
W	Takashi Sato Welterweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall	Mar 19, 2022
L	Gilbert Burns Welterweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Cannonier	Sep 28, 2019
L	#9Leon Edwards Welterweight	Decision	Split	R3	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal	Mar 16, 2019
W	#13Alex Oliveira Welterweight	Submission	Rear Naked Choke	R2	4:17	UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega	Dec 8, 2018
L	#14Santiago Ponzinibbio Welterweight	KO/TKO	Punches to Head At Distance	R1	1:22	UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio	Jul 16, 2017
W	Alan Jouban Welterweight	Submission	Guillotine Choke On Ground	R2	0:46	UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson	Mar 18, 2017
W	#13Albert Tumenov Welterweight	Submission	Rear Naked Choke	R2	3:15	UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski	May 8, 2016
L	#6Demian Maia Welterweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor	Dec 12, 2015
W	Brandon Thatch Welterweight	Submission	Rear Naked Choke	R1	2:54	UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor	Jul 11, 2015
L	#15Rick Story Welterweight	Decision	Split	R5	5:00	UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Story	Oct 4, 2014
W	Zak Cummings Welterweight	Submission	Rear Naked Choke	R2	4:48	UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao	Jul 19, 2014
W	Omari Akhmedov Welterweight	Submission	Guillotine Choke On Ground	R1	4:36	UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa	Mar 8, 2014
W	Jorge Santiago Welterweight	Decision	Unanimous	R3	5:00	UFC on FUEL TV: Barao vs. McDonald	Feb 16, 2013
W	DaMarques Johnson Catch Weight	Submission	Rear Naked Choke	R1	3:34	UFC on FUEL TV: Struve vs. Miocic	Sep 29, 2012

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 Butenko56-19-3	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) and Dana White’s Contender Series — shown for context only, excluded from Schedule Score, striking/grappling rates, and every UFC-scoped metric.

Method of victory & defeat

KO / TKO

4 wins, 1 loss

W4

L1

Submission

13 wins, 0 losses

W13

L0

Decision

2 wins, 5 losses

W2

L5

Finishes

UFC KOs

0

Below avg · 13%Welterweight

Knockdowns / fight

0.06

Below avg · 0.24Welterweight

UFC submissions

8

Above avg · 7%Welterweight

Submission attempts / fight

0.69

Above avg · 0.39Welterweight

KO history

Knockout power and chin durability (UFC; clean KOs only).

Gunnar Nelson

PowerChin

Knockout rate

0%

0 KO/TKO wins

Knockdowns dealt

1

0.45 per 100 head

Clean KO losses

1

cuts / injury TKOs excluded

Knockdowns absorbed

4

1.51 per 100 head

Chin gauges use a league scale: green = clean record, red = bottom ~10% of UFC fighters (4+ KO losses · 6+ knockdowns absorbed).

Never submittedin the UFC

Decision behavior

Judging

7 scorecards on file

Gunnar Nelson

Scorecard luck

Wrong end of the cards

Won just 0 of 2 coin-flip decisions — repeatedly on the wrong end of close calls. Judges have given them 1 of 5 rounds they disagreed on (20%).

Coin-flip decisions

Split + majority

0–2

Won – Lost

Swing rounds

Judges disagreed

1–4

Won – Lost

20% went their way

Unanimous5 decisions · 71%

2W3L

Split2 decisions · 29%

2L

Majority

None

10-8 rounds

10 rounds total

3

Won

7

Lost

Most frequent judges

All judges →

Scorecard data ingested from MMA Decisions

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%26th47
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

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.

Grappling

Per-15-minute breakdown of takedowns, submissions, and ground control.

UFC only

Gunnar Nelson

52%

Takedown accuracy

68%

Takedown defense

Control / 15 min+3.3 min net

On top5.3

On bottom2.0

Offense

Takedowns

B

69th

2.0

69th

TD accuracy

A

75th

52%

75th

Sub attempts

A

77th

1.0

77th

Control

A

77th

5.3 min

77th

Defense

TD defense

C

56th

68%

56th

Controlled

2.0 min

Career totals — landed / attempted, control time

Offense

Takedowns	22 / 42
Submission attempts	11
Control time	58:26

Defense

TDs defended	13 / 19
Control absorbed	22:17

Rates above are per 15 minutes of UFC fight time (165min total). Value colors reflect the per-15 rate’s percentile against the current weight class baseline; raw totals without a division reference stay neutral.

Pace & fade

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

UFC only

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).

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

Nelsonlanded / min

Takedown attempts

Nelsonattempts / min

Control time

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

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

3

ChampionHeld the title in this weight class at the time
Top-5Ranked #1–#5 at the time
Top-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%
Top-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	Top-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	Top-15	63	Dec 8, 2018
L	Santiago Ponzinibbio#14	Top-15	69	Jul 16, 2017
W	Alan Jouban	Contender-level	40	Mar 18, 2017
W	Albert Tumenov#13	Top-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	Top-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.

Career cohorts

16 resolved UFC bouts

Performance broken down by situation — camp length, response to the previous result, title-fight presence, and rematches. Computed across every completed UFC bout.

Camp length

Days between fights

Short turnaround

< 100 days

0-2

2 bouts

Typical camp

100–180 days

3-2

5 bouts

Long layoff

> 180 days

6-2

8 bouts

UFC debut

first UFC bout

1-0

1 bout

Post-result bounce

Performance based on the previous UFC result

After a loss

next bout after a defeat

4-1

5 bouts

After a win

next bout after a win

5-5

10 bouts

First UFC bout

no precedent

1-0

1 bout

Title fights

Performance with a belt on the line

All title fights

as challenger or champion

—

As champion

defending the belt

—

As challenger

fighting for the belt

—

Rematches

Performance when meeting an opponent again

All rematches

any second meeting

—

Revenge bouts

lost the first meeting

—

Encore bouts

won the first meeting

—

Activity & layoff

Last fight, activity, and divisional context.

Time since last UFC bout

1y 3mo

Active

0–6 mo

Normal

6–12 mo

Layoff

12–18 mo

Extended

18+ mo

Gunnar Nelson

Layoff

1y 3mosince last bout

vs Kevin Holland · Mar 22, 2025

DraftKings fantasy scoring

DFSAs favorite 8-4As underdog 2-2

68.6

DK avg

85.5

Median

106.8

Ceiling

20.8

Floor

56%

Boom

13%

Bust

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