Gunnar Nelson talks his time off, Rick Story bout, McGregor, Vegas and Movement

Just before UFC Dublin, the birth of Gunnar Nelson’s son brought a brief, celebratory pause to the Mjolnir front runner’s training camp as he prepared to face tough American Zak Cummings in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao.

After claiming victory over Cummings in the second round of the Dublin date by rear naked choke, Nelson was booked to face Rick Story in the main event of Stockholm’s UFC return on October 4.

With a quick turnaround between the bouts, and having fought three times in 2014, Nelson explained how he was always going to take some time off after the Story bout, win or lose, to spend time with his family’s new addition.

“I just went back home and spent some time with my son and with my family,” said Nelson. “I’ve been training and doing a little bit of snowmobiling and stuff, but mostly I’ve been just spending time with my family. It was always the plan to take a bit of break after Sweden anyway. The baby came along eight months ago so it’s been good to spend time with him.”

The five round war that took place in the Swedish capital displayed a side to Nelson that had never been seen before. Such was his dominance in his previous bouts that the MMA world had never seen the stoic Scandinavian deal with adversity.

Although Story came away from the Nelson’s fist main event outing with the victory, Nelson is confident that the loss will only make him a better fighter.

“All of these fights – you learn something every time you get in there whether you win or lose, but especially when you get a tough fight like that. It was a five round war with a lot of back and forth and I lost, so there was a lot to learn from this and I’m taking it with me to the gym everyday,” claimed Nelson.

“There were definitely some positives to take away from it. I know I can stand there and trade a little bit, although that’s never a smart thing to do. It’s given me a lot of things to work on and a lot of things are already coming together. That kind of fight really helps you grow, so I’m really looking forward to my next one.

“He fought really well, it was a tough fight. There are a lot of things that happened that I can take with me to the gym and learn.”

After making a public plea to UFC to get him on to the July 11th card that will see his long time friend and training partner Conor McGregor fight for Jose Aldo’s 145 lbs crown, Nelson discussed the white-hot trajectory of the Dubliner.

Admitting that McGregor’s rise motivates him, Nelson claimed that he knew there was something special about ‘The Notorious’ from very early on in their training days.

“Me and Conor have been friends for a long time and we’ve training together for many years. I could always see that he could be great if that’s what he wanted, and he obviously did want it. He has climbed so fast, it’s ridiculous.

“He’s off to fight Aldo now in July, so it’s amazing how far he has gone and how much he has done over such a small period of time. It really motivates me to see him doing so well, and I’m sure all the guys on the team feel the same way.

“I’m very happy for him. He just enjoys this sport so much and you can see that in him and that’s great. It’s just fun seeing people that you know, your friends, doing so well. It gives me a lot of energy.”

Furthermore, the Mjolnir man explained what it would mean for him to make his debut in the ‘Fight Capital of the World’ on July 11.

“I would definitely love to fight in Vegas, I’ve only been there once before with Conor,” Nelson revealed. “It’s such a historical place when it comes to martial arts, boxing and MMA. I think it would be great to go over there for to fight. I’d really enjoy that.

“I want to travel all over the world and fight, I want to try a load of different places. Vegas is definitely huge though, it’s a dream and I would definitely look forward to it if I got on that card in July. Nothing has been said yet, but I would love to fight on that card.”

Finally the prodigious European spoke about what people can expect from him the next time he takes to the Octagon.

He said: “There were some things that I felt that I wasn’t using in my last fight, maybe in my last few fights. I think I got up in certain ways of moving instead of moving freely – that’s what I’m used to, to be honest.

“That was something that I’ve really focused on doing and as soon as I did it a lot of things just clicked into place. Timing has become more precise and I just feel a lot better in my own body.”

@PetesyCarroll