Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.02.2016, Blaðsíða 10

10
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2016
THE EXCITEMENT WAS ALMOST
PALPABLE on the evening of December
12, 2015, as Icelanders gathered in pubs,
clubs and at house parties to witness
local MMA hero Gunnar Nelson fight
Brazil’s Demian Maia in a high-profile
UFC fight beamed straight from Las Ve-
gas via satellite. The highly publicized
fight was dream matchup between two
world-class grapplers, an experienced
veteran and his hotshot challenger. An-
ticipation levels peaked as the two fight-
ers stepped into the ring, with viewers
from all over the world tuning in to wit-
ness the potentially legendary fight.
At Irish pub The Dubliner in down-
town Reykjavík, the crowd turned wild
as the fight commenced. And then, it fell
silent.
It quickly became apparent that
Gunnar Nelson was no match for Maia,
who quickly asserted his dominance
over the young contender. Our hero
didn’t seem to stand a chance. The au-
dience gathered was at a loss for words,
much like the Icelandic sport com-
mentators covering the match. Gunnar
showed no signs of recovering. By the
third round, people had averted their
eyes from the screen, instead focusing
on finishing their drinks.
Something had gone horribly wrong.
Gunnar’s usual spry and confident
demeanour was absent in the ring, re-
placed by what seemed like half-hearted
efforts to stay in the fight, which was
far from enough against veteran Maia.
Gunnar spent the majority of the fight’s
fifteen minutes soaking up punches
and avoiding Maia’s deft submission at-
tempts.
Wrestling with inner demons,
Zombie Mode
After taking a few weeks off, Gunnar
agreed to meet for an interview. Step-
ping into his gym, Mjölnir, I find it abso-
lutely bursting at the seams. Making my
way past a throng of people hitting the
showers, I descend to the large boxing
and fitness room, where I find Gunnar
in the middle of a deep stretch, smiling
and laughing with a few friends of his.
Saying his goodbyes, he joins me on a
couch, squatting, not sitting, sipping on
coconut water.
As we discuss that fateful Decem-
ber night, Gunnar doesn’t appear upset
over the proceedings. He attributes his
positive demeanour to having spent the
last month with friends, family, and his
eighteen-month-old son. “Lately I’ve
been playing Zombie Mode on the new
Call of Duty with my friends,” he says,
“and going back to the gym.”
Speaking at a measured pace, Gun-
nar tells me that although he has yet to
watch the Demian Maia fight, he’s paid
a lot of thought to it. His technique and
skills aren’t to blame for the loss, he says.
Rather, it was the result of a sort of con-
dition or bad habit that has followed him
for a long time, and stopped him in his
tracks that night. He’s felt it before, he
tells me, but hasn’t been able to prop-
erly pinpoint it until now. He describes
the sensation like a need to open up his
chest, and when affected he feels slowed
down, and unable to self-motivate.
“I’ve fought through it in the past,
sometimes winning fights in spite of it,”
he explains. He felt it during the Rick
Story fight of 2014—his first profession-
al loss—he confirms when I ask, noting
that it wasn’t as acute then as was with
Maia. He explains: “Dealing with it is
a part of me becoming comfortable in
my own skin and getting to know your
body.”
Gunnar tells me that he’d long been
excited about the prospect of fighting
Maia. Having discussing the intrica-
cies and challenges of such a matchup
with numerous confidants, he says, he
specifically requested it happen. “I’ve
watched him from the beginning. I have
the feeling that he’s on his way out, so I
knew this was my chance.”
However bad his defeat might have
seemed, it’s clear from talking to Gun-
nar that he doesn’t see it as anything
more than a bump in the road. “You lose,
and there’s nothing you can do about it
but get back up on your feet,” he calmly
explains, betraying the stoic demeanour
that has become his trademark.
Local fame, Global acclaim
In the three and a half years that Gun-
nar has fought with the UFC, he’s won
five fights, and lost two, garnering well-
deserved international acclaim and
becoming a bit of a national icon in the
process.
Indeed, Gunnar’s many achieve-
ments at the highest level of the MMA
world—such as making it to the top
fifteen of the UFC’s welterweight di-
vision—have served to popularise the
sport in Iceland. It has, for instance,
resulted in an influx of new members at
Mjölnir, the gym where he trains, mak-
ing it one of Europe’s biggest. To meet
demand, Mjölnir will move to a new
3,000 square metre space this summer,
with twice the floor space.
Gunnar hasn’t gotten into a fight
since he was a kid, he says, and he be-
lieves that his sport has nothing to do
with violence. Instead, he explains, it
taps into something very primal, some-
thing that perhaps appeals to Icelanders
in particular.
“In all my travels, I’ve discerned that
Icelanders are pretty rough people,” he
says. “We like full contact sports and
action. MMA is just man against man,
woman against woman—it’s conflict in
its most basic form, with a good set of
rules. Maybe I’m biased, because I enjoy
it and so do the people around me, but I
think it speaks to something instinctive
within us.”
As Gunnar grows increasingly popu-
lar in Iceland and MMA becomes more
prevalent in the local media, detrac-
tors have predictably come out of their
woodwork, raising various concerns
over the merits of “a sport that cele-
brates barbaric violence” and Gunnar’s
own standing as a public figure. Lately,
whenever kids get into a schoolyard
tussle, a mini-moral panic erupts, where
he and his sport are called into question.
Most recently, Gunnar was taken to task
by commentators after two ten-year-old
boys got into a fistfight a couple of days
after the Maia bout.
At this point, the discourse is fairly
routine. First, various commentators re-
spond to an event by claiming that Gun-
nar is a bad role model. His defenders
will then respond, perhaps noting that
kids have been getting into fights since
time immemorial and this isn’t likely
to change. Predictable and petty as this
verbal sparring is, Gunnar becomes vis-
ibly frustrated when the topic is brought
up, saying he’s fed up with having to re-
peat himself again and again.
When asked whether he considers
himself a role model, he responds that
he’s not the person to answer that. “I try
doing what I do to the best of my ability.
It’s up to other people to decide if I am
a role model, and if so, of what kind.”
We discuss role models in general, and
their responsibility to the public. After
pausing for a moment, Gunnar admits
that he’s not sure. “You have to realise
the impact you can have, and base your
decisions on that,” he says. “Yet at the
same time, people have to understand
that you’re just living your life. Knowing
that young boys and girls might look up
to me makes me want to be careful to re-
main true to myself, and stick to my own
values.”
Intense Situations
Gunnar is known for seeming stoic
and calm, rarely showing emotion. His
friends, however, know that he can be
very impatient, and that he hates being
delayed. Right now he’s back to train-
ing full time and says he’ll be in fighting
shape again in a month or two. He’s aim-
ing for three or four bouts this year.
He says he doesn’t want to decide
who he fights next, while noting that
he wants many fights in quick succes-
sion. “The UFC never match you against
someone who is far behind you, so we
always just say yes to what they suggest.
They’re all tough guys, and you can al-
ways learn from them, which is what
motivates me as a fighter. I’m interested
in improving as a fighter, learning new
movements, and putting myself into
intense situations. I want to keep going
and fight the top guys, and then pass on
my skills when I’ve retired.”
That
Fight:
Gunnar Nelson is down,
far from out
By Gabríel Benjamin
“I’ve
fought
through it
in the past,
sometimes
winning
fights in
spite
of it"

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