UFC London video recap: Gunnar Nelson taps out Alan Jouban

Check out BloodyElbow.com’s video recap of the UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Manuwa co-main event between Gunnar Nelson and Alan Jouban.

Gunnar Nelson once again proved why he’s one of the best grapplers in the welterweight division.

In the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Manuwa at The O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday afternoon, the Icelandic fighter faced Alan Jouban and scored a second-round submission.

Immediately following the opening bell, Jouban looked to maintain distance and fire off offense on the feet. He was successful very briefly, but Nelson got him down to the ground after a bit of clinch work a couple of minutes into the first round. Nelson passed Jouban’s guard with ease, and worked his way into full mount to end the round.

Both fighters were exchanging on the feet early in the second round. Nelson, who isn’t particularly known for his striking, landed a devastating straight right hand and wobbled Jouban. He followed up with a right head kick, but instead of following up with more strikes and possibly finishing Jouban by TKO, Nelson dropped down for a submission. Nelson instantly locked in a guillotine in a beautiful transition, forcing Jouban to tap.

What was the highlight of the fight?

If anyone says the highlight of the fight was something other than Nelson’s fight-ending submission set up with a right hand on the feet, they’re lying. Despite already being highly touted as a jiu-jitsu practitioner, Nelson’s stock did nothing but rise in this fight. Nelson’s grappling game was absolutely seamless at the end of the bout, and it was pretty crazy how quickly he went from hurting Jouban standing up to tapping him out on the canvas with a guillotine.

Where do these two go from here?

Nelson, who’s currently ranked No. 9 in the official welterweight rankings, set himself up for a big fight with this very impressive win. “Gunni” is clearly getting better and better, and I think a fight with Neil Magny would let us really know where he sits among the rest of the 170-pound division.

This isn’t that big of a setback for Jouban, who was a big underdog and not ranked going in. However, it’s another fight where Jouban wasn’t able to get over that hump to crack into the top 15 at 170 pounds. He’s been consistently getting better over the past year or so, so I suspect he’ll get back on track relatively quickly.

Watch now, later, or never?

This was a great performance from the SBG Ireland product. Watch it now.

@GunniNelson rocks Jouban & gets the submission win!! What a performance!! #UFCLondon #UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/cSuOSqk7rd

— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2017

Check out BloodyElbow.com’s video recap of the UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Manuwa co-main event between Gunnar Nelson and Alan Jouban.

Gunnar Nelson once again proved why he’s one of the best grapplers in the welterweight division.

In the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Manuwa at The O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday afternoon, the Icelandic fighter faced Alan Jouban and scored a second-round submission.

Immediately following the opening bell, Jouban looked to maintain distance and fire off offense on the feet. He was successful very briefly, but Nelson got him down to the ground after a bit of clinch work a couple of minutes into the first round. Nelson passed Jouban’s guard with ease, and worked his way into full mount to end the round.

Both fighters were exchanging on the feet early in the second round. Nelson, who isn’t particularly known for his striking, landed a devastating straight right hand and wobbled Jouban. He followed up with a right head kick, but instead of following up with more strikes and possibly finishing Jouban by TKO, Nelson dropped down for a submission. Nelson instantly locked in a guillotine in a beautiful transition, forcing Jouban to tap.

What was the highlight of the fight?

If anyone says the highlight of the fight was something other than Nelson’s fight-ending submission set up with a right hand on the feet, they’re lying. Despite already being highly touted as a jiu-jitsu practitioner, Nelson’s stock did nothing but rise in this fight. Nelson’s grappling game was absolutely seamless at the end of the bout, and it was pretty crazy how quickly he went from hurting Jouban standing up to tapping him out on the canvas with a guillotine.

Where do these two go from here?

Nelson, who’s currently ranked No. 9 in the official welterweight rankings, set himself up for a big fight with this very impressive win. “Gunni” is clearly getting better and better, and I think a fight with Neil Magny would let us really know where he sits among the rest of the 170-pound division.

This isn’t that big of a setback for Jouban, who was a big underdog and not ranked going in. However, it’s another fight where Jouban wasn’t able to get over that hump to crack into the top 15 at 170 pounds. He’s been consistently getting better over the past year or so, so I suspect he’ll get back on track relatively quickly.

Watch now, later, or never?

This was a great performance from the SBG Ireland product. Watch it now.