Gunnar Nelson served up a reminder of his grappling prowess tonight at UFC 286 with a slick armbar submission finish over Bryan Barberena in the dying stages of the opening round.
Round One:
Calf kick from Barberena grazes the target as Nelson adopts his usual karate-based stance.
Barberena lands the calf kick again. Again he connects as Nelson remains patient. Suddenly Nelson lands a punch and darts straight into the clinch against the cage.
Nelson gets double-underhooks. he lands a knee to the body. Barberena defending so Nelson changes to a single-leg and then nicely lands a takedown.
Nelson in half-guard parallel to the cage. He’s looking to pass guard here and lands an elbow strike. He lands another and then thinks about a possible Americana submission, before opting to just land another elbow.
Another elbow connects then suddenly Nelson slickly transitions to an armbar attempt and it’s not long before Barberena is forced to tap out with just 9 seconds of the opening round remaining. Great technique from Nelson there.
