Irish fighters have yet to record a win in the UFC this year.
You have to go all the way back to UFC 194 and Conor McGregor’s win over Jose Aldo for a tricolour to be raised inside the octagon.
The weekend brought no joy either, as Neil Seery suffered a loss in Rotterdam as Paddy Holohan’s retirement meant limited Irish interest.
However, we consider SBG stable member Gunnar Nelson to be an adopted Irishman, particularly given his now note-perfect hybrid Dublin-Iceland accent.
He secured another UFC win on Sunday night as he beat Albert Tumenov at UFC Rotterdam with a stunning submission.
The welterweight looked to be back to his very best and landed some very impressive strikes in the opening round, before taking the Russian to the ground for an emphatic win in the second.
In the post-fight press conference, Nelson admitted that he feels his lack of hand wrapping makes him a more composed, and deadly fighter when he is inside the octagon.
“I never wrap my hands. I like to get as much feel for my hands and my opponent as I can and I never really feel any difference wrapping my hands. I’ve never broken my hands and if you work with your hands, you like to get the feel for what you’re doing. I feel I have more feel for what I’m doing when I have no wraps. Ideally, no gloves.”
"Ideally no gloves." @GunniNelson on why he doesn't wrap his hands #UFCRotterdam https://t.co/YQK0kiHpAp
— UFC (@ufc) May 8, 2016
