Over the years, Gunnar Nelson has earned the reputation as a top grappler within MMA. Here, he has carved out a solid career at the top of the UFC and previously won World’s at black belt which shows his BJJ credentials.
In a recent podcast with Craig Jones, he opened up about a story involving his previous teacher John Danaher. It turns out that Nelson trained under the tutelage of Danaher for a few years back in the day. This isn’t too unusual, considering that Danaher has taught countless MMA fighters.
However, the story he told was pretty wild. In short, a student was in the guard of John Danaher, who then proceeded to crank Danaher’s neck and sprawl back. Eventually, Danaher regained a closed guard and did a kind of Mir lock submission on the student, which resulted in a broken arm. After this, Danaher did a backward roll and walked straight into his office without acknowledging the student who was now badly hurt.
“One time, he snapped this guy’s arm. Turns around and walks into his office and then I walk into the office and he’s (Danaher) sitting there and I do a knock. John is cool as a cucumber, looks up and asks ‘What’s good buddy?'”
So, there we have it. Based on this story, some have claimed that it was interesting to hear an encounter from way back, while others have called out Danaher for severely injuring someone. On a final note, it would be intriguing to hear some of the lesser-known tales from yesteryear as well and this may be an insight into a time when BJJ was very different.
