Gunnar Nelson submits Bryan Barberena with beautiful armbar in opening round at UFC 286
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, March 18, 2023, for UFC 286, going down live from the o2 Arena in London, England.
Headlining the event is a welterweight championship bout between Leon Edwards (20-3, 1 NC) and Kamaru Usman (20-2), the third time these two squared off inside the octagon.
Co-headlining the event is a lightweight contest between no. 3 ranked former title challenger Justin Gaethje (23-4) and no. 6 ranked fellow knockout artist Rafael Fiziev (12-1).
Our feature fight of the evening came at 170 lbs between Iceland superstar Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1) and the heavy-handed Bryan Barberena (18-10). Nelson was originally slated to face Daniel Rodriguez at this event; however, D-Rod withdrew from the contest for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Barberena.
Continue reading to see how this welterweight clash went down:
Official Result: Gunnar Nelson def. Bryan Barberena via submission (armbar) at 4:51 of round one
Nelson opens up the bout with a wide stance and hands low, as he always does with his karate background. Barberena lands a nasty inside leg kick before Nelson clinches with him not long, thereafter, pressing him into the fence.
Nelson secures his double underhooks and eventually gets Barberena down, where he immediately passes from guard to half guard. He then secures mount, reigns down a couple elbows, and brilliantly takes Barberena’s arm for the victory late in the first round.
After a year long layoff Gunnar Nelson returns in a big way tonight with a beautiful submission finish of Bryan Barberena at UFC 286.
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