Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 loss to Fabricio Werdum will probably be forgotten in the long-term history of MMA, but it shouldn’t be.
Why?
It actually showed that the era of the “tough guy” is dead; being a hard-working, tough individual just isn’t good enough anymore.
In order to succeed at the highest level in modern MMA, you need to be an athlete as well as a tough guy.
Roy Nelson’s popularity was in large part due to his rotund shape. Nelson looked (and acted like) the everyman, and this resonated with the fans. “Big Country” was a beloved fan favorite.
Nelson had some success early in his UFC run by winning the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, and then picking up two victories over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve.
But since those wins, Nelson has just one win to go with three losses, including the most recent loss to Werdum.
Nelson just wasn’t athletic enough to compete with the changing MMA world. This trend—the tough guys who lack athletic ability losing—will only continue as MMA and the UFC grow.
The UFC is becoming more and more visible and popular. As this happens, more athletes who otherwise would’ve entered other sports will enter MMA, and they’ll succeed due to their physical abilities.
This success will come at the expense of the tough guys with no natural gifts to speak, of such as Forrest Griffin or Stephan Bonnar. Ten years from now, fighters like Griffin, Bonnar, or Nelson won’t make it to the UFC because they aren’t athletic enough.
The UFC will be packed with natural athletes like UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
While some may malign this change, the sport will be better for it. The fights will be better and because of that, there will be higher ratings and more pay-per-view buys, which will only entice better athletes to join the sport, thus continuing the cycle.
And it all became clear thanks to Roy Nelson’s loss.
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