Gunnar í Fighters Only Magazine

Það er gaman að segja frá því að það er smá viðtal við Gunnar í nýjasta hefti (Febrúar 2008) Fighters Only í UK. Þar er grein sem heitir Wanderlust (Ferðaþrá) og í henni, á bls. 53, er m.a. stutt viðtal við Gunnar.

Annars staðar í blaðinu, bls. 78, er m.a. sagt frá keppninni sem hann tók þátt í 9. desember og bardagi hans við Barry Mairs er annar tveggja bardaga sem dregnir eru út í keppninni og sagt sérstaklega frá. Þar segir:
"The other performance of note was that of Icelandic welterweight fighter 'Shotgun' Gunnar Nelson. At 19 years of age, his clinical dismantling of game opponent Barry Mairs showed a maturity beyond his years. With excellent positioning and balance, he used a devastatingly precise ground 'n pound game to put his opponent to sleep midway through the first round."

Fyrir þá sem komast í blaðið vek ég m.a. athygli á grein á bls. 26 sem heitir Prodigies og er eftir ritstjórann, Hywel Teague. Fjölmargar aðrar frábærar greinar eru auðvitað einnig í blaðinu.

Fighers Only er frábært tímarit og sennilega það stærsta í Evrópu um MMA. Það er eina tímaritið í UK sem eingöngu fjallar um MMA og kemur út mánaðarlega, um og yfir hundrað síður og allar í lit á gæðapappír. Febrúar blaðið er t.d. 108 síður.

Viðtalið við Gunnar úr greininni Wanderlust er hér að neðan:
For aspiring professional fighters, it is sometimes necessary for them to travel in order to simply find opportunities that would be otherwise unavailable to them. Once such example is that of Gunnar Nelson.
A 19-year-old aspiring professional from Iceland, he has been training in MMA and grappling for two years and rapidly became the best grappler in Iceland, a country not exactly known for it's MMA. In order to develop his skills and find new challenges, he was forced to look elsewhere for proper training opportunities. In 2007 alone, he travelled to Dublin, Sweden and the UK, as well as Portland, Oregon. Even though he has to travel, he is lucky in that he gets to combine his passions. "I love it, I love travelling, I love training and I love fighting," he says.
Iceland suffers from a case of geographical isolation and political opposal. Even though there is a thriving MMA club in the heart of Reykjavik, Nelson has outgrown those he trains with "There are more opportunities here than in Iceland, its not even legal over there. We've only been doing it for so long, so travelling and training in different gyms in different countries is definitely good for my career and my game."
"I've been to Portland, Oregon. I was there for about five weeks last summer. Then earlier in the year, in April, I went to Dublin and I was there for about four or five weeks and had my first pro fight in Denmark. I went back to Dublin in early September, I was there for two months, just training. I had two fights in that period, and then I came here [England]." In the eight weeks he spent in England, Nelson managed to fit in (and win) two MMA fights.
But how does a young man like him manage to fund such lengthy absences from home? "Well, I work back home for a few months and then travel for a few months. I work and save, then travel, and all I do when I travel is train and fight as much as I can.
"Before my last trip I worked as a plumber's assistant, maybe when I go back I'll find something more interesting. Really it's all about finding something where I can just save so I can travel. All I want to do when I'm away is train without distractions and stay focused."
Always looking to expand his horizons and his skills further, Gunnar plans a trip to Hawaii in 2008 to train with one of his idols, BJ Penn. "I think BJ is as close to the complete fighter as you can get. I would love to learn from him."

Ætli ég freistist ekki til að setja greinina Prodigies eftir ritstjórann, Hywel Teague, hér inn líka:
Prodigious talent is a phrase that gets tossed around a little too freely at times. A true prodigy is a rare and amazing thing, and when you see it, you recognise it instantly. To clarify, a prodigy is someone who has an amazing natural talent in something and displays it from a relatively early age.
This issue features the original prodigy, BJ Penn. At only 29 years old, Penn is already something of a legend. He was the youngest fighter to do some pretty amazing things. He got his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt in three and a half years. His exploits as the first non-Brazilian to win the BJJ world championships amazed everyone, most of all the prideful Brazilians. He burst onto the Ultimate Fighting Championship (L1FC) scene as a brash young 22-year-old and earned a title shot in three fights against a man four years his senior and with ten more fights under his belt. Later, he would capture the welterweight title and then fight opponents of increasing weight until he was finally beaten by a man who was fighting as a heavyweight.
Why was he so successful? Plenty of people have natural ability, but how can some people focus this ability into amazing success? It's simple - they live, eat and breathe the sport.
Penn moved to San Francisco 10 train full-time with Ralph Gracie by simply outgrowing his first trainer in Hawaii. leaving behind his family and friends to devote his life to the arts. Penn's example sounds extreme but was not unusual.
Judo legend Neil Adams did something similar. At the tender age of 16 his coach advised his family that Adams could be one of the best in the world, if he had the appropriate training. Adams did a similar thing to Penn - he left home, went to London to train with Olympians and became one of the greatest British judoka ever.
I've spent time with a fighter I consider to be a true prodigy. I'm hesitant to give his name in case I place a curse on this young professional, but at only 19 years old, I believe him to be the real deal.
Watching him fight is like watching a Hindu cow stroll through the streets of New Delhi he is so calm. He has two years of training in mixed martial arts (MMA) and BJJ under his belt, yet taps out black belts with years of experience. When he isn't training, he is thinking about training, running through moves in his head and playing out strategies. He eats, breathes and lives MMA.
This young fighter also trains with the best to become the best, and soaks information up like a sponge, another characteristic of a prodigy. BJ Penn famously asked Frank Shamrock to teach him one thing a day, he was that quick at picking things up. Able to assimilate knowledge at a breakneck pace, once he was shown how to do something it would be part of his game forever, a remarkable thing for a fighter to do.
But for every prodigy there is a wasted talent. Fighters often come from unstable backgrounds, and sometimes these backgrounds swallow up the prospect's chances before they ever have chance to shine Gyms see fighters come and go, and the ones who come in with the most talent often leave the biggest holes when they leave.
Even sadder are the ones who were pushed too hard or too soon, the young talents who were misguided and used by unscrupulous trainers and managers, eager to cash in from the talent in their hands, but little caring of their personal development or longevity. One such fighter was 'The Phenom', Vitor Belfort. A precociously talented and fast-handed young fighter managed by Carlson Gracie, he blossomed at 19 years old and destroyed his first opponents before being beaten down by the more mature and worldly-wise Randy Couture.
Since then, lacking guidance, Belfort's career has gone through ups and downs like no other At times he appears one of the most gifted fighters to grace the ring, but there are times when he looks like he has no business in there at all. Hot and cold doesn't even begin to describe his performances. His last outings were nothing short of cringe worthy. Picking up a paycheck, he appeared fat and bloated in his fights with James Zikic and Ivan Serati, yet still glimpses of his talent were still evident.
Aside from being rare, prodigies are also fragile in their own way. They need looking after by strong trainers and must be handled carefully, lest they waste their chance at making it. After all, you only get so many goes at it in the fight game.

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