Filed under: UFC
Heavyweight Roy Nelson says he might reconsider his stance on fighting under unfavorable conditions.
Nelson, who has received criticism for his UFC 130 loss to Frank Mir two weeks ago, was aware he was sick going into his May 28 fight against Mir and was later diagnosed with walking pneumonia after the fight. However, he didn’t want to withdraw from the fight and lose out on a payday as well as having to sit out another few months waiting for another fight.
“I knew i wasn’t 100 percent, but the fight still has to go on,” Nelson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “The show still has to go on cause we are still entertainment.”
Walking pneumonia is a milder form of pneumonia, an infection of the lung, and while it generally does not require hospitalization, some of the symptoms are sore throat, headache and loss of energy.
Nelson said he lost energy within the first minute and compared the way he felt during the Mir fight with how Shane Carwin infamously fell apart in his championship bout against Brock Lesnar in July 2010. Nelson had not been that fatigued in a fight since his first career loss against at a BodogFight event in December 2006 in St. Petersburg, Russia — a fight he also entered with an illness.
Shortly after the fight, UFC president Dana White was critical of Nelson’s performance and met with Nelson to say, “The fat thing was funny for a minute. It’s not funny anymore.”
No stranger to criticism of his physique throughout his career, Nelson told White the same thing he’s been telling everyone else, that he’s fought in this shape his entire career.
When asked about the meeting on The MMA Hour, Nelson danced around the question, joking he and White had a casual get together to discuss movies and what’s good to eat around the UFC offices.
Nutritionist Mike Dolce has also reached out to help Nelson, but Nelson says he will instead consult with partners in his gym, including guidance for bulking up from multiple-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler.
Nelson considers his poor conditioning in the Mir fight an isolated incident and one he hopefully won’t repeat in the future. Nelson points to recent instances where elite athletes in the sport such as Lesnar and Jon Jones who have withdrawn from a fight rather than fight injured or sick.
After all, a loss will stay on his record and hurt his ranking within the organization.
“I need to be more business savvy, as Rashad [Evans]’ would say, ‘I have a brand to worry about,” Nelson said, who fell to 15-6 in his recent loss.
That’s something he’ll likely have to remind himself if he’s ever in a situation again where he won’t be able to perform to the best of his abilities.
Nelson says, “The one thing that always sucks about me is that I’m just a fighter and I just love to fight.”