Roy “Big Country” Nelson had his chance to earn a shot at the UFC heavyweight title in the next year. Instead, he lost a lopsided decision against a man who is working to move to light heavyweight.
Daniel Cormier out-boxed Nelson and proved to be a superior grappler en route to defeating Big Country. He subsequently expressed his desire to move to the 205-pound division in his next fight, according to ESPN.com’s Franklin McNeil.
Nelson couldn’t land his big right hand, and without that weapon he looked helpless. The stamina bug also seemed to bite him late in the fight. When you consider the fact that the fight was just a three-round affair, it makes you wonder how well Nelson would perform in a five-round main event.
In his UFC career, Nelson has never been beyond the third round. Now he must head to the back of the line in the heavyweight ranks. At 37 years old, Nelson doesn’t have a great deal of time to climb the ladder again.
The loss on Saturday night was a huge setback.
C.B. Dollaway Didn’t Make Any Fans in Houston
In a spirited battle with Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch, Dollaway did his best Nate Diaz impersonation. He taunted Boetsch defiantly and egged his opponent on with trash talk. That wasn’t the worst aspect of his performance, though.
On two occasions, Dollaway poked Boetsch in the eyes. The first one was the most severe and appeared to be accidental. But the second instance had to leave fans scratching their heads. Dollaway repeatedly attempted to fend off Boetsch with an open hand. At the very least, the second eye poke looked like it could have been avoided.
Referee Kerry Hatley apparently agreed, as he took a point from Dollaway after the second foul. In the end, Boetsch was awarded a split-decision victory. The judging in the fight was peculiar. It seemed Dollaway won the first round. It was possible to score the second even, though Dollaway could have won that one as well.
The Barbarian won the third—even without the point deduction—so awarding him the win isn’t totally preposterous. However, depending on how you scored the second round, an argument could be made that Dollaway deserved the win, or a draw.
In any case, karma says Dollaway deserved to lose after his controversial eye pokes.
Nate “Not-So-Great” Marquardt
The end is near for Marquardt—at least it should be. Hector Lombard did look like the beast most had expected him to be when he made his UFC debut in 2012. Still, Marquardt backpedaled the entire fight, and it was clear a KO stoppage was inevitable from the start.
Marquardt is 34 years old, and he’s been competing in the UFC since 2005. The loss to Lombard was his third in a row and second straight by KO.
Marquardt has been in with names like Chael Sonnen, Yushin Okami, Jake Ellenberger, Anderson Silva, Jeremy Horn and others; but it is in his best interest to call it a career.
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