And so we find ourselves back here again, fans and friends: another day of “UFC 143 Complete Collection” postings, the final day in fact. Only two fights remain as the collection heads into double digits: the co-main and main event. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far. “Complete Collection” doesn’t come around often, but I always enjoy it when it does.
For today’s first entry, we have a major heavyweight matchup between Ultimate Fighter season 10 winner and former IFL Champion Roy Nelson and the man who famously gave Fedor Emelianenko the first legitimate loss of his career, Fabricio Werdum. Let’s dive right in.
Roy “Big Country” Nelson has been defying the odds for about as long as he’s been competing in professional Mixed Martial Arts.
Known as “Big Country” to his fans and “Burger King” (among other spite-fueled nicknames) to his cynics, Roy Nelson is best known as a callback to the old-school era of the UFC where you didn’t need hulking muscles or even any muscle definition at all in order to get some wins.
In the lead-up to this bout, Fabricio Werdum himself has compared Nelson to infamous old-school UFC brawler Tank Abbott. But while their physiques may be the same, there’s a world of difference when it comes to experience and skill.
You can love him or you can hate him, but Roy Nelson has proven to be a UFC-caliber fighter and has given UFC fans several impressive performances while both winning and losing.
My fandom of Nelson waned a bit during the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter because Nelson was portrayed as a man who thought he was better than the fighters on the show…but it came back and even built to new heights when he more or less proved that he really was the best on the show.
To date, Roy Nelson is 3-2 in the UFC. His two losses have been to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos. Nelson was the first man to ever take Junior dos Santos the distance, by the way. In his most recent fight, Nelson TKO’d aging legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Nelson’s opponent, Fabricio Werdum, was at one time a top UFC heavyweight. Werdum ended up going 2-2 in his first UFC run, losing to former champion Andrei Arlovski and getting KO’d right out of the UFC by Junior dos Santos.
Werdum’s release from the promotion remains controversial to this day, especially given the heights Junior dos Santos would go on to reach after beating Werdum. Nevertheless, Werdum went on to compete in Strikeforce, where he would claim the most significant victory of his long career.
After defeating rising stars Mike Pyle and Antonio Silva, Werdum shocked the world when he submitted MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. It was one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, and it immediately made Werdum one of the most discussed fighters in the world.
Most recently, Werdum’s hype has taken a bit of a hit (how large depends on your perspective) when he lost a rather boring decision to Alistair Overeem.
It’s honestly pretty difficult for me to choose a winner for this match. Roy Nelson has already said in an interview that he thinks he has better “MMA grappling” than Werdum, but then I remember that Frank Mir controlled Nelson pretty darn well before he gassed in the third round of their fight. Werdum has always had good cardio, though, and like Mir he’s a “big but not giant” heavyweight.
In the end, my early prediction is that this fight is going to be pretty close, and if it goes to a decision, it could easily go either way. Nelson’s best chance is to get that big one-punch KO he nails occasionally, while Werdum’s best chance is to latch on a submission that doesn’t involve being put on his back and being subjected to Nelson’s smothering top game.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
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