LONDON – It takes a mature individual to recognize faults and correct them, even when they’re pointed out by others.

UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson admits past criticism of his in-cage performances is valid, and he’s worked to overcome the issues that have diminished previous outings. The knock is that he’s had slow starts, and it’s kept him from breaking through to the top of the 170-pound division.

If the idea is good, he said, it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from.

“Criticism is just something you can listen to or not,” Nelson told MMA Junkie in advance of Saturday’s bout against Leon Edwards at UFC on ESPN+ 5 from The O2. “You listen to it if you think it makes sense to you, if it can help you or not. I don’t really mind. I focus on what I believe in. I take in what I think can help me.

“People see certain things I don’t see, I’ll listen and take them in and work on it. Sometimes in the past, I have been flat. I have been not properly turned on. But I bet everybody has felt that at some point. That’s something you need to learn from and correct, and that’s what we do.”

With a new lease on his training life, Nelson believes he can live up to his early hype – and climb into title contention.

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