The until now unbeatable MMA fighter Gunnar Nelson from Iceland lost to Rick Story from the U.S. in the headliner event at the Ericsson Global Arena in Stockholm on Saturday. Most of the fight took place standing up—Story managed to avoid the floor where Gunnar was hoping to make his move as a wrestler.
Gunnar and Story fought to the very end and Story won the fight through points—two out of three judges gave Story the higher score while one of the judges found Gunnar to be the stronger fighter, visir.is reports.
“It was a tough five-round fight. We really went at each other. I felt that I won the first and second round fairly safely. The third round was equal but he was much more aggressive in the final two rounds,” Gunnar said in description of the fight.
Gunnar said in an interview with Stöð 2 after the fight that he had been surprised by Story’s stamina—he had figured all that punching would make him tired. Story had also been sweaty and therefore Gunnar hadn’t managed to get a good enough grip to wrestle him to the floor, he explained.
Gunnar added that the fight had been a valuable learning experience and that he was looking forward to hitting the gym and practicing new moves.
“I’m very content with the fight because I think you never learn more than from a fight like this. Everyone must lose at some point,” Gunnar stated. “The experience will make me stronger.”
