Gunnar: Realistically, McGregor could sub Aldo

UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson earned his black belt at age 21 after just four years of training, and placed 4th at ADCC in 2009. He knows his grappling. In an interview with the ever tremendous Submission Radio, Nelson said Conor McGregor could sub UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, with they fight at UFC 189 on July 11, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He’s very good on the ground, and he’s even better when it’s grappling for MMA, because that’s a lot of difference,” said Nelson. “You know, grappling or Jiu Jitsu is not the same as the wrestling and grappling in MMA, and he’s really good there; and he’s got good submissions, and he’s very fast and he can move in most directions, and he’s getting better every single day. So yeah I’m sure you’ll….if a good black belt forgets himself for a second, he’s on you and he’s probably going to submit you.

So is it realistically possible for Conor McGregor to submit Jose Aldo when they fight?

Oh one hundred percent he can.” said Nelson.

Nelson even thinks the training the two have done together may have had an influence on Conor’s style.

Yeah like we’ve been training together for a long time,” he said. “He comes over to Iceland to train a lot. So he used to be like a bit more of a boxer, but then we started working kicks and that kind of in and out style and being a bit more on the toes, and yeah he adopts whatever suits him and whatever he can make work. So he might have gotten some of that from me. I’m not gonna…..you have to ask him, but we definitely learn a lot from each other, that’s for sure.

Nelson also said the split decision loss to Rick Story in his last fight was a wake up that his training had not been idea.

I guess I kind of … sometimes you’re doing something, right, and for a while you go through a period where you just kind of lose interest, or you’re not like fully … I don’t know, your mind is not fully there for a while,” said Nelson. “It has been for a while for me, you know. And although I have been winning most of my fights and stuff, but I don’t feel like I’ve been doing it the way I should be doing it. I haven’t been putting all the effort in and like I haven’t been, you know, just fully there when I’m training, and you know sometimes you just lose interest. I don’t know why exactly, but like shortly after my fight with Rick Story I started really dreaming again, you know and feeling that feeling that I had when I was starting. And so I’m really I’m very excited for times to come now.

I feel like I’ve got that fire that was always there that kinda left for a little bit. It’s there again. It’s a good feeling. You’ve got a clear path now and you’re very happy to be on it.

I’ve realized that if I don’t just want to dream and I want to make my dreams come true, I have to pick it up now and put everything into this and stop flapping around. So I think I definitely have at least one or two more fights this year, and I think I’m only three fights away from the title. As you said before, this division is very open. So it all depends on the manner of your victories, but I think I feel like I’m very, very close.

Gunnar Nelson fights John hathaway at UFC 189 on July 11, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.