Gunnar Nelson is one of the top grapplers in the welterweight division and is eyeing a bout against one of the top wrestlers in Ben Askren.
Nelson believes “Funky” got lucky against Robbie Lawler and says he looks slow to start his UFC tenure.
“I think he was probably a bit lucky in that fight against Robbie Lawler, I think you’d probably agree with that,” Nelson told MMAFighting’s Eurobash podcast.
“He got caught with some sh*t and then he got that choke that wasn’t really on. The referee thought Robbie was out, but he wasn’t. I think he got an easy out there. It did not look good when stood up after a few [big shots] from Robbie. I don’t know, he looks quite slow.”
Although Askren just suffered his first loss, Gunnar Nelson would like to fight him. He believes it would be an entertaining fight and a very interesting stylistic matchup.
“I think it would be a very exciting matchup. I’d love to fight Askren at some point,” he said.
“He’s a good grappler and he has his own style. I think it would be interesting. He’s done really well, but his striking definitely needs some brushing up. In the grappling department he’s good; he’s good at keeping guys down, beating on them and wearing them out. I don’t think he has my submission skills, but he’s obviously decorated in wrestling. I’ve never competed in wrestling so he’d be really good in that area. It could be very interesting.”
