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An MMA fighter will pound several EVE Online devs into the mat

by: Randy -
More On: EVE Online DUST 514

Nearly a dozen EVE Online and DUST 514 developers are about to commit suicide by taking on a mixed-martial arts fighter in the ring. In an exciting but ill-advised publicity stunt, CCP devs (the makers of EVE and DUST) will climb into a ring and face off against Gunnar Nelson, a black belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, ranked #14 among Ultimate Fighting Championship's welterweights. They'll fight him, one after another, with only enough pausing between fights to haul one busted fighter out of the ring and haul in the next one.

Gunnar Nelson often looks sleepy, but he's really just stone cold. He's an Iceland native, and you can tell he's got legit Viking blood in his veins. He's not flashy in the ring. He doesn't waste a lot of movement. But he knows how to demoralize and exhuast opponents during takedowns. I'm not sure how much CCP's internet spaceships are going to help them in this situation. A little, maybe?

The fight will take place on May 2, on the second night of the upcoming three-day EVE Fanfest 2014 in Rekyjavik, Iceland.

Fast forward to about the 10-minute mark if you want to see things start to get uncomfortable for Gunnar Nelson's opponent, Jorge Santiago. Santiago puts up a nice fight, but I can imagine those EVE devs are sweating bullets watching videos like these. I'm sure it's (very) little consolation for the devs to see that DUST 514 logo on Gunnar Nelson's shorts.

EVE OF DESTRUCTION Pits CCP Developers Against World-Class MMA Fighter at EVE Fanfest

Gunnar "Gunni" Nelson (12-0-1) faces amateur stable of CCP staff and special guests

22 April 2014 – Reykjavik, Iceland – CCP Games, the world's leading independent massively multiplayer game developer, today reluctantly acknowledged a long-term secret project after whispers of it started circulating amid the world’s martial combat elite. The shadowy, morally questionable program reportedly mixed genetic manipulation and intense psychological training over many years and was designed to prepare several of CCP’s video game development staff for actual physical combat against famed mixed-martial arts (MMA) fighter Gunnar “Gunni” Nelson (12-0-1). They will face off in the EVE OF DESTRUCTION event held during on Friday night (20:00 UTC on 2 May) of the three-day long EVE Fanfest 2014.

Nelson, a world class Brazillian jiu-jitsu specialist, is arguably the greatest champion to arise from Iceland’s rich Viking heritage in the past several centuries. He responded to the news with a cold, emotionless stare.

During EVE OF DESTRUCTION, Nelson will face off against CCP Games staff members and special guests in 10 back-to-back, one-versus-one wrestling matches in a fighting cage on loan from Mjölnir MMA Gym, his home training ground. The winner of each match is determined by submission, with unlimited time per round and only enough time between rounds for the introduction of the next competitor.

“The fighting itself will be very serious,” said Ragnar “CCP Loki” Eðvaldsson, the fight’s promoter. “We aim to defeat this world-class athlete and the team has been training hard for many months at Mjölnir to do so. What is the distance between a person at the top of the pyramid and those who strive to get there? Tune in to find out.”

Sveinn “CCP Guard/Mister G” Kjarval, who wears several hats as Community Developer for EVE Online, lead singer of Permaband and merciless coach of the CCP team, describes the EVE OF DESTRUCTION event as the “single greatest spectacle of athleticism” ever conceived, rivaled only by the “Brain vs. Pain” Chessboxing match held at Fanfest 2011. He promises “flailing, half-strength maneuvers” from his disciples that will “possibly, eventually have a 2% chance at best of causing this human tornado of devastation to pause and laugh just long enough that we get super lucky.”

Nelson responded with his trademark cold, emotionless stare.


Tune in to the free live-stream throughout Fanfest, including the EVE OF DESTRUCTION event on Friday 2 May 2014, at www.twitch.tv/ccp.
More about Gunnar Nelson: http://www.nelson.is/
Mjölnir MMA Gym: http://mjolnir.is/
More about EVE Fanfest: http://fanfest.eveonline.com