UFC weigh-ins are a time for fun.
When fighters who are tasked with the very serious business of trying to beat their opponents to the point of knockout or submission come out tossing t-shirts to the crowd – as did fighters like Rick Story, Stefan Struve and Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson on Friday – you know that the seriousness of Saturday night has not yet arrived.
Roy “Big Country” Nelson didn’t toss any shirts as he came out to weigh in for his co-main event bout against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, but the former IFL Heavyweight Champion did find other means of showing his sense of fun: Nelson, who weighed in at 260 pounds for the fight with Mir, had his hair tied up in pigtails as he approached the scale.
“Big Country” has always kept a sense of humor about him in his UFC career, patting his ample belly after victories and making Weird Al Yankovic’s “Fat” his walkout song of choice. However, in a sport that exudes masculinity, Nelson’s willingness to adopt a hairstyle generally associated with elementary school-aged girls is a reminder of what sets him apart from many of his fellow fighters.
Saturday night, however, the pigtails will be gone, and it will be time for “Big Country” to try to make Mir squeal like a pig.