This past summer, Gunnar Nelson saw his two-fight win streak go out the window after he was knocked out by Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 113 in Glasgow, Poland in the very first round.
It wasn’t without controversy, though, as “Gunni” cried foul play on the part of Santiago following a series of eye pokes that led to the end of the fight. An appeal to have the ruling overturned to a no-contest fell on deaf ears, much to the chagrin of Nelson and his camp.
Six months later, Nelson is still upset at how it all went down, saying that it’s as clear as day that Ponzinibbio poked him intentionally.
“Looking back at it, I don’t know about you but these videos basically tell you that this was deliberate. You don’t poke someone like four times in the space of nine minutes,” said Gunnar on a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
“I think it was deliberate. After the fight, I didn’t think he would do it deliberately, but after seeing all the pictures, the videos in slow motion, I was like this looks deliberate. In the beginning I came in with an uppercut and he poked me, he had his fingers out and you can’t do that, but you can‘t say that was deliberate. But when I was up against the cage, before he knocked me down, he came at me and with his thumb, he puts into my eye and kind of just hooks it and that looks nasty,” he added.
While Gunnar would like to get a do-over against Santiago, saying he’s confident he can defeat him, he knows it won’t be in the cards anytime soon. As for who he is eyeing next, the submission specialist wants to settle his beef with Darren Till.
“I had a little back and forth with Darren Till online and I thought that was going to happen, but they haven’t scheduled anything yet. I am here but nothing is happening (with him). I would love that fight. He’s calling everyone out, says he’s not getting any opponents, he’s a good fighter. He’s online saying no one wants to fight him, well, I’m ready. I’m willing to fight.”
As for when and where, Gunnar wouldn’t mind throwing hands at the upcoming UFC Fight Night event in London in March.
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