Tag: Roy Nelson

What you see is what you get with Mark Hunt. 

The storied heavyweight slugger brings a straightforward approach to his action inside the Octagon, and the New Zealand native never makes any bones about what he’s showing up to do. The former K-1 World Grand Prix champion’s mission once the cage door closes is to settle the opposition in whatever fashion presents itself, and it’s a task he’s accomplished time and time again—often in brutal fashion.

Knocking grown men unconscious is just what Hunt does, and there may be no other fighter quite as gifted in this regard than “The Super Samoan.”

That said, Roy Nelson has also proven extremely capable in the drubbing department as “Big Country” has also settled a collection of notable fighters with one swing of his brick-heavy overhand right. Both men have long been heralded for their respective talents, and fans have clamored for years to see the two heavyweight wrecking machines go toe-to-toe inside the Octagon. 

As it turns out, the fighting faithful will get their wish Saturday at Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan, when two of the premier knockout artist in the fight game finally step in to determine supremacy. The matchup has become one of the most highly anticipated tilts of 2014, and Hunt can’t wait to get out there and trade bombs with his bearded challenger.

While there is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between the two men, make no mistake about it: Hunt is coming to put Nelson to sleep and certainly expects the Las Vegas native to be looking to do the same on fight night. 

“I’m looking forward to Saturday night and seeing what Roy has,” Hunt told Bleacher Report. “I’m going to try to move forward with my dream and goals, and I’m excited about it.

“I like Roy as a person and as a fighter. But regardless of how I feel about him, I am a martial artist and I am going to treat him with respect. Then I’m going to get in there and do my job on Saturday night because that is what it is. I’m going to go in there and try to put him out because that’s what fighting is, and afterwards I will buy him a beer. Whether I put him out or he puts me out, that’s the way it should be. 

“We both go out there and fight,” he added. “That’s what we do. We are just fighters. I’m not there to out-point anyone. I’m coming in there to put you down, and I believe Roy is up to doing the same. On Saturday night, we are going to bang it out until the wheels fall off. Well … one of our wheels are going to fall off.”

In addition to his excitement about mixing it up with Nelson, the 40-year-old South Auckland native is equally pumped to be fighting in Japan once again. When he steps in on Saturday night, it will Mark Hunt’s third showing on Japanese soil under the UFC banner, with his two previous efforts resulting in a blistering stoppage of Cheick Kongo and a violent starching of Stefan Struve back in March 2013.

Nevertheless, Fight Night 52 will be the first time Hunt is slotted in the main event for a UFC card on Japanese soil. “The Land of the Rising Sun” is where Hunt’s career and notoriety for salting worthy challengers were initially forged, and he’s grateful to be able to give the Japanese crowd another show.

“It feels really good to be headlining a UFC card, and to be doing it in Japan is something I’m honored to do,” Hunt said. “I built my career in Japan, and it’s like my home. The whole Asian area is like my home really (laughs) so I feel honored and blessed.”

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise. 

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Roy Nelson vs. Mark Hunt will happen at UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan this Saturday, Sept. 20. 

Isn’t that just fantastic? Roy Nelson vs. Mark Hunt. This is a dream matchup for fight fans, featuring two big-bellied, goofy, carefree heavyweights who could punch holes through sheet metal (and that’s just their jabs!). 

When looking at this bout on the surface, it’s easy to get lost in the fighters’ appearances and their reputations as one-shot-stopper knockout artists. Add in their quirks—Roy Nelson proudly rubs his massive belly after a big win and walks out to Weird Al Yankovic’s “I’m Fat”; Mark Hunt recently claimed he got cut by the UFC on Twitter before claiming he was just fussy because he couldn’t eat carbs—and it’s even simpler to forget what’s really at stake in this matchup.

Yes, it’s a novelty fight in a sense. In today’s UFC, the top heavyweights don’t carry around flubbery guts and sport hilarious mullets. When Nelson takes on Hunt in Japan, we’ll see plenty each. 

Scratch the surface and squint your eyes a little, however, and you’ll find more. You’ll find two legitimate top-10 heavyweights looking to crack the upper echelon of the division and to establish themselves as challengers to the UFC heavyweight strap. 

That distinction is well earned. 

Just four years ago, Hunt entered the UFC riding low on a five-fight losing streak, making his promotional debut at UFC 119 against another interesting cat in Sean McCorkle. The 6’7″ journeyman snapped Hunt’s arm with a straight armbar just one minute into the fight, five straight losses became six, and it looked like the New Zealander would never really matter in the ever-deepening UFC heavyweight division. 

But somehow, against all odds, Hunt did matter—he mattered big time. He bounced back from the McCorkle loss, rattling off four straight victories, three via ferocious knockout. Suddenly, the big man was challenging former heavyweight champion and top contender Junior dos Santos in a marquee heavyweight tilt at UFC 160. A win here and Hunt would probably challenge the victor of the night’s main event, a rematch between Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (spoiler alert: Cain mauled him…again.). 

Hunt would eventually fall to dos Santos in dramatic fashion, getting knocked out in the third and final round by a perfect spinning hook kick. Despite this, many fans and critics left the fight impressed by the former K-1 standout. No, he did not prove himself ready for the title, but he showed he could find some success against the top dogs in the division. Lasting more than two rounds with dos Santos is a considerable achievement, one that lesser men failed to accomplish inside the Octagon on numerous occasions. 

After a Fight of the Night performance against Bigfoot in his most recent bout, Hunt is back in title talks. Ranked sixth in the division, he’s just one big win away from a No. 1 contender’s bout, and Nelson will happily take his hand and hit the dance floor to see who deserves to take the leap more. 

For his part, Nelson has been quietly doing his thing since winning Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC commentator Joe Rogan loves to gush over Nelson’s black-belt skills in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but the tubby heavyweight has shown but one significant weapon inside the cage: his remarkable overhand right. 

Nelson wings this punch with conviction, notching multiple knockout wins throughout his UFC career with this attack alone, including his most recent victory over legendary heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC Fight Night: Minotauro vs. Nelson. 

While “Big Country” has lost five times inside the Octagon, it’s important to note his competition and to understand the fact that he was finished precisely zero times in those fights. 

Not a bad list, huh? Three (Werdum, dos Santos, Miocic) are still top-five heavyweights. One (Cormier) is the No. 1 contender at light heavyweight and would undoubtedly still be top five at heavyweight and one (Mir) was in the middle of a championship run when he defeated Nelson. 

Put him against lesser competition, and the results are devastating. All seven of Nelson’s UFC victories came via knockout, and Hunt just finished tying his dancin‘ shoes. 

As Nelson strolls to the floor to greet him, we’ll quickly find out who is a legitimate contender in the division and who will be doomed to a career knocking out inferior foes and losing hard-fought battles against the division’s elite. 

You can call this fight a novelty fight based on appearances and the “fun factor” alone, but you’d be wrong. This fight will see one gargantuan heavyweight finally find his footing and burst upward onto the top floor of the division, pulling up a chair alongside dos Santos, Werdum, Browne, Miocic and Barnett.

And he’ll have earned it. 

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