A Quote by Gunnar Nelson

I'm a very focused person. If I'm focusing on something I don't like distractions and I like to just do that one thing. And Jiu-Jitsu and MMA basically became that one thing for me.
My Jiu-Jitsu is very MMA focused. I was not the best striker, and when I considered becoming a MMA fighter I just focused to improve my BJJ.
My mom loved when I started training judo and jiu-jitsu because that wasn't hurting me. But when I took her for my first MMA fight, she was like, 'Baby, you're not really going to do this, right? To get punched in the face, please stop with that. Do jiu-jitsu, it's good, it won't get you hurt.'
That's one thing that's always helped me as a fighter is that I haven't focused on one thing, like, 'let's make you a jiu-jitsu fighter' or 'let's make you a Muay Thai fighter.' I had nothing when I started, and we work on everything at the same time.
There are lots of jiu-jitsu fighters who finish fights and have good MMA jiu-jitsu, but I think I've applied techniques which I can teach other people.
I would never say 'Demian Maia jiu-jitsu.' I created lots of things that became known, but it's all Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
I will continue dedicating myself to MMA in 2015, but fighting in the ADCC interests me, yes.. The Jiu-Jitsu Worlds does not interest me, I see fighters with a different goal from mine. They want to hold your sleeve, grab you and wait for time to pass. They just want to stall the game. I do not see this as a real fight, I see only as a strategy to win. For me, Jiu-Jitsu is much more than that.
For me, boxing's like checkers, and MMA's like chess - there are so many ways to win the match. It's not barbaric; it's boxing, kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, cardio and it's all reached such an amazing level. As fans learn more about the sport, they just fall in love with it.
My Jiu Jitsu is with the gi. It's the real style of Jiu Jitsu, it's with the gi and I fight MMA.
When I came to the United States, I saw a lot of Mike Tyson. I would stay up and watch all of the Mike Tyson fights. A friend here said, 'You got to do Jiu-Jitsu. That's the thing.' I said, 'C'mon, Jiu-Jitsu would never beat Mike Tyson.' So, he showed me the Royce Gracie tape. I was so impressed with the thing.
Jiu-Jitsu is the bond or styles all between all the other styles. Take Jiu-Jitsu out, a boxer is just a boxer, a kickboxer is just a kickboxer. Take Jiu-Jitsu out of the wrestling - what is he going to do, take the person down and? There's no finishing holds, there's no striking.
Chandler has fought great jiu-jitsu guys before, like Benson Henderson and my brother. He's practically impossible to submit. Of course he can get caught, but I think that's very difficult. His wrestling is a great counter to the jiu-jitsu approach, it makes it very complicated for them.
For my striking, I've learned to adapt it right off the bat for MMA. Even my jiu-jitsu, I adapt it very much for MMA.
MMA is very difficult; you can't just be good at wrestling. You need striking, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and countless other things.
MMA is not jiu-jitsu. MMA is not boxing. MMA is not wrestling. It's a different kind of style of punching and wrestling and grappling on the ground.
People that don’t know and hear about it, they start to think that all the people that do jiu-jitsu smokes pot, is a drug addict. Here I am fighting for something good, and the guy is fighting for something bad, in my point of view. I can’t agree with that, what he represents. Nothing to do with his jiu-jitsu, his school. If you want to do something like that, do it in private. Keep it to yourself.
The people around me saved my life, not MMA. It was people who said, 'You're better than this,' who told me, 'You don't belong in this world.' MMA and jiu-jitsu and training gave me an escape.
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