Gunnar Nelson named athlete of the year

MMA fighter Gunnar Nelson was named athlete of the year by the readers of Vísir. Ten athletes were nominated and voting took place during the Christmas holidays.

About two thousand people voted in the election with Gunnar getting around quarter of the votes. Gunnar was also prominent on the list of Vísir of the 20 most popular sport news of the year, three most read stories were on the MMA fighter, but Gunnar says that he has noticed a lot of interest in him and his sport.

"You constantly notice the increasing interest among Icelanders," Gunnar says in an interview with Vísir. He was grateful to the readers of Vísir for the result of the election.

"The interest is growing at a great speed. I think that viewing of this sport and interest of the community in it has reach another level this past year. You felt that people were getting to know the sport better, have knowledge about it and better up to date - not only concerning what I was doing."

"I liked that a lot and think that is the beginning of something big," Gunnar says.

Criticism was also prominent last year, but Gunnar says that it is mostly justifiable. "It's a good thing that people speak their mind and it is inevitable," he says, bud adds:

"Much of what I've seen is from people who do not know the sport and look at it without any prior experience. Therefore, they're prone to prejudice, as the sport is a tough one and offend some people."

"It may be natural, but nevertheless people must put their feelings aside if the purpose is reviewing and publicly portraying their feelings. This is at least my opinion."

"I think that much of what has been said, has been said impetuously. Likewise, the comments call for a good reply and educating people a bit better in this field. It is positive that is possible to respond to the criticism, even though it is always boring to listen when such nonsense is heard."

Gunnar's aim is to fight early in the new year - late February or early March - although it has not been decided where the fight will take place or who the opponent will be. He says it is likely that he will fight in Vegas in the U.S. for the first time in his career.

"Competing there is not different from competing in other cities, Gunnar says. "Las Vegas is definitely a mecca for a competition in this sport and has a place in the hearts of those people who have watched UFC since the beginning. But today the biggest shows are not necessarily in Vegas."

"Of course it is fun for people to visit a city like Las Vegas, but for the athlete himself competing there is not crucial. I enjoy very much visiting new places and would also be excited to go to Japan and even Brazil in the future."

He will however continue living in Iceland. "That is at least my aim. I'll continue traveling abroad when competing, but I'll remain a resident here in Iceland."