Gunnar Nelson headlined UFC Fight Night: Glasgow and was promptly knocked out in less than two minutes by Santiago Ponzinibbio.
The fighter blames the loss on an eye poke he suffered moments before the knockout and he blames himself for not stopping the action.
“I’m kicking myself in the head for not stopping the fight,” Nelson told MMA Junkie. “I should have stopped the fight, recovered, and carried on from there.”
It was the second time Nelson has lost a UFC main event fight, as he dropped a decision to Rick Story a few years back.
One reason Nelson says he didn’t stop the fight was because he felt he was moments away from defeating his Brazilian opponent.
“Because I caught him, I thought I had him on the run and I could finish the fight,” Nelson said. “I think that was the biggest mistake in this fight. I’m not saying that if I didn’t get caught by it that I would have seen the shot coming. It is what it is. Even then, I was seeing double, and I was able to land a few more shots. But then he catches me with a nice right hand.”
Nelson has yet to indicate whether or not he will appeal the loss, which if successfully appealed, could overturn his defeat to a no contest.
