Roy “Big Country” Nelson is no stranger to making headlines. Nelson is routinely one of the more outspoken fighters in the game today, and has no qualms about making his opinion known. It’s a trait that’s annoyed Dana White to no end, but has helped ma…
Roy “Big Country” Nelson is no stranger to making headlines. Nelson is routinely one of the more outspoken fighters in the game today, and has no qualms about making his opinion known. It’s a trait that’s annoyed Dana White to no end, but has helped make Nelson one of the more popular fighters in the sport.
Nelson shared some of his insight with Steph Daniels of BloodyElbow.com in a recent interview. The former Ultimate Fighter winner sounded off a number of topics, including his bout with UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
“I think even back then, if I’d had two extra rounds, it could have been a different fight.”
Although dos Santos did appear to tire as the rounds wore on, that was more due to the fact that he threw everything he could at Nelson for 15 minutes. Granted, while Nelson is always one punch away from a victory, that punch likely never would’ve landed, given how bad of a beating JDS was putting on him at the time.
A vicious beating is what some MMA fans were expecting when Colton Smith and Mike Ricci met one another to decide the winner of the most recent season of TUF. Although Ricci is a natural lightweight, he was predicted to walk through Smith en route to winning another achievement for the Tristar gym.
Instead of Ricci dominating, Smith used a solid game plan to control every round en route to winning an unanimous decision. Although Smith was a Team Nelson fighter, Nelson wasn’t impressed by the performance.
“I think at the end of the day, when you’re in TUF, it’s a game show. The goal is to win, so if Colton Smith had the ugliest fight, but won the show, like he did, they have to give him a contract, because that’s the rules. He won the show, and after that, he can fight any which way he wants. They can’t take it away from him, because it’s a game show. He had a game plan, and he executed it. He went out there and rode a guy’s back for three rounds. I think they thought Mike Ricci was gonna win, otherwise GSP wouldn’t have gotten on a plane and come out to be in his corner, but Colton beat him up.”
Nelson fought Matt Mitrione in the main event of that card, but was originally scheduled to face his opposing coach Shane Carwin. Nelson attempted to get both Carwin and Mitrione to agree to VADA testing, but neither man agreed.
“…it has nothing to do with calling people out or accusing them of anything. It has to do with cleaning up the sport. I want to help keep the sport as pure as possible.
“I think a lot of people get confused. When I say ‘get sponsored’, I mean on both sides, both fighters. I’ve basically taken all your freaking excuses out. ‘Oh, it’s gonna cost me money.’ Nope. I’ve taken that out. ‘Oh, I don’t have time.’ Nope. They come to you. You shouldn’t have excuses. It’s a yes or no question. You either think you’re clean, or you’re not.”
Nelson also stated that he believes he has another 10 years of fighting ahead of him. I’m sure White is relishing the chance to work with “Big Country” for another decade.
You know, it really speaks volumes about what The Ultimate Fighter has become when the greatest display of MMA from the past season came during an event that featured next to none of the show’s participants. Add in the fact that the Ricci/Smith “finale” was the MMA equivalent of watching two illiterates play Scrabble (BRYNDEX is so a word!) and that should give you a good indication of the Tijuana back-alley abortion that TUF 16 truly was. Hell, 12 of the show’s 16 contestants have already been cut from the UFC’s roster and even the coaches couldn’t care less.
What does this all add up to? Mainly, a payout that is as abysmal as the show itself, save a few exceptions. Granted, the money almost seems fair considering the talent levels of the guys involved, but we’ll be damned if it isn’t semi-depressing to look at all the same. So check out the salaries along with our thoughts after the jump and let us know who you think got royally screwed.
You know, it really speaks volumes about what The Ultimate Fighter has become when the greatest display of MMA from the past season came during an event that featured next to none of the show’s participants. Add in the fact that the Ricci/Smith “finale” was the MMA equivalent of watching two illiterates play Scrabble (BRYNDEX is so a word!) and that should give you a good indication of the Tijuana back-alley abortion that TUF 16 truly was. Hell, 12 of the show’s 16 contestants have already been cut from the UFC’s roster and even the coaches couldn’t care less.
What does this all add up to? Mainly, a payout that is as abysmal as the show itself, save a few exceptions. Granted, the money almost seems fair considering the talent levels of the guys involved, but we’ll be damned if it isn’t semi-depressing to look at all the same. So check out the salaries along with our thoughts after the jump and let us know who you think got royally screwed.
Johnny Bedford: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Marcos Vinicius: $8,000
Rustam Khabilov: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Vinc Pichel: $8,000
T.J. Waldburger: $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 to win)
Nick Catone: $13,000
Hugo Viana: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Reuben Duran: $8,000
Mike Rio: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
John Cofer: $6,000
Tim Elliott: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
Jared Papazian: $6,000
Thoughts…
Underpaid: Who would have guessed that being a constant thorn in Dana White’s ass would backfire on Roy Nelson? Here we have both a TUF winner and coach who makes just four grand more to show than Shane del Rosario, a relatively unknown heavyweight who has now had his ass thoroughly kicked in both of his UFC contests. Let’s put it this way: If Roy Nelson were a troll (which, let’s be honest, is what he has basically become), that toll wouldn’t even be enough to get into a boy’s hole soul. No wonder Nelson enjoys Burger King so much; with that kind of payday it’s probably all he can afford to eat. Then again, Nelson fought 3 times in 2012, so maybe he’s just a fatass who enjoys terrible food.
The same goes literally double for Matt Mitrione, who despite putting together a five fight win streak from 2009-2011 that included four highlight reel finishes, is somehow getting paid less than Jonathan Brookins, who should be locked into the same TUF contract. “Meathead” is even making less to show than Nick Catone, who is a whopping 2-4 in his last six fights. Shit happens when you refuse to fight Daniel Cormier on short notice.
Overpaid: I can’t really claim that anyone on this list is overpaid, but the fact that Jamie Varner made 12 grand to vomit backstage really makes me question why my prostitute is charging me double that to do the same thing to her every other Tuesday. Looks like somebody is getting fleeced.
The old saying “everybody loves a winner” is doubly true in mixed martial arts when that winner claims victory via knockout or submission. The finale show for The Ultimate Fighter 16 was full of early stoppages, with only two fights going the dis…
The old saying “everybody loves a winner” is doubly true in mixed martial arts when that winner claims victory via knockout or submission. The finale show for The Ultimate Fighter 16 was full of early stoppages, with only two fights going the distance, and when the salaries were announced for the card, it was nice to see three knockout winners take home the biggest paychecks for their efforts.
Leading the way was Mike Pyle, who pocketed a total of $78,000 for his first-round TKO win over James Head. Following Pyle was Roy Nelson, who pulled down $48,000 for his first-round knockout of Matt Mitrione. And coming in third was Pat Barry, who took home $44,000 for his second-round knockout of Shane del Rosario.
The fourth-highest-paid fighter on the card, Melvin Guillard, didn’t even have to step into the cage to earn his check of $42,000. Guillard’s fight with Jamie Varner was scratched from the card whenVarner fell ill before the fight. The two will try it again on December 29, as the fight has been rescheduled for UFC 155.
Full payroll for The Ultimate Fighter 16 finale: (via MMAJunkie.com)
Roy Nelson: $24,000 plus $24,000 win bonus defeated Matt Mitrione: $12,000.
Colton Smith: $8,000 plus $8,000 win bonus defeated Mike Ricci: $8,000.
Patrick Barry: $22,000 plus $22,000 win bonus defeated Shane Del Rosario: $20,000.
Dustin Poirier: $17,000 plus $17,000 win bonus defeated Jonathan Brookins: $20,000.
Mike Pyle: $39,000 plus $39,000 win bonus defeated James Head: $12,000.
Johnny Bedford: $8,000 plus $8,000 win bonus defeated Marcos Vinicius: $8,000.
RustamKhabilov: $8,000 plus $8,000 win bonus defeated VincPichel: $8,000.
Anthony Waldburger: $14,000 plus $14,000 win bonus defeated Nick Catone: $13,000.
Hugo Viana: $8,000 plus $8,000 win bonus defeated Reuben Duran: $8,000.
Mike Rio: $8,000 plus $8,000 win bonus defeated John Cofer: $8,000.
Timothy Elliott: $6,000 plus $6,000 win bonus defeated Jared Papazian: $6,000.
Melvin Guillard: $42,000, Jamie Varner: $12,000 for scratched fight due to illness.
Roy Nelson is likely going to hear the criticisms for the rest of his career.”Lose some weight.””Trim that beard. You look like a homeless Santa Clause.””Is he really drinking beers on the way to the scale?”OK, maybe that last one just was me at the UF…
Roy Nelson is likely going to hear the criticisms for the rest of his career.
“Lose some weight.”
“Trim that beard. You look like a homeless Santa Clause.”
“Is he really drinking beers on the way to the scale?”
OK, maybe that last one just was me at the UFC 137 weigh-ins last year. But no matter what, all those eccentric qualities don’t change the fact that Roy Nelson is currently one of the heavyweight division’s absolute best strikers.
That’s why until his chin or body starts to fail him, Nelson will keep winning fights and continue to be a thorn in Dana White‘s side.
In a sea of clean-shaven, muscular fighters, Nelson stands out like a sore thumb with his huge gut and enormous beard, both of which have gotten even more noticeable since “Big Country” started to truly embrace his appearance.
It’s even more pronounced since Nelson has previously shown a more business-like side of himself, complete with a tidy haircut and clean suits.
When you think about it, it must annoy White to no end.
Perhaps if the UFC president could have had things his way, Nelson wouldn’t have so thoroughly beaten ratings star Kimbo Slice during The Ultimate Fighter 10.
But things rarely go according to plan in MMA, and Nelson’s rise is no exception.
Maybe Nelson’s just acting out in order to mess with White, one of his most vocal detractors. Maybe Nelson just doesn’t care about appearances anymore. Maybe that beard helps him absorb titanic blows from his heavyweight counterparts.
Either way, even with the occasional loss, Nelson isn’t likely to lose his job as long as he continues to string together exciting knockouts.
There’s simply nothing that Dana White can do about it.
“Big Country” has once again proven himself a cut above the middle of the UFC’s heavyweight pack, and he’s enough of a draw that he might be too valuable to let go after a single bad fight.
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.
Roy Nelson didn’t get the chance to prove a fat guy could go five rounds, but he did show that a fat guy has serious knockout power.At The Ultimate Fighter 16 finale, Nelson dropped Matt Mitrione with a hard one-two combination and finished the fight w…
Roy Nelson didn’t get the chance to prove a fat guy could go five rounds, but he did show that a fat guy has serious knockout power.
At The Ultimate Fighter 16 finale, Nelson dropped Matt Mitrione with a hard one-two combination and finished the fight with a barrage of unanswered ground strikes at 2:58 of the first round.
“I was looking to pick him apart in the second and third and show all the critics that a fat boy can go five rounds,” Nelson told UFC commentator Joe Rogan after the fight. “God blessed me with [knockout power]. I used to submit everybody, but when I got my first knockout, I was like, ‘This is so much easier than this wrestling and jiu-jitsu stuff.'”
If the Mitrione bout is any indication, Nelson may never go five rounds. He packs enough power to put any careless heavyweight’s lights out.
The problem for Nelson lies in his ability to win against upper-echelon opposition. Nelson is good at striking, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling, but he isn’t particularly great at any aspect. He is a rugged, well-rounded fighter with a wealth of experience.
Unfortunately, good won’t cut it against world-class fighters in the heavyweight division. Can Nelson find a way to make the necessary adjustments to finally get over the hump?
The heavyweight division is as deep as it’s ever been. Nelson will get a chance to prove to the world that he is a much-improved fighter and a potential contender.
If you haven’t been keeping up with a television series, taking the time on a Saturday night to watch the series finale is a gigantic waste of time. Heading into the finale of a season that we could not have cared less about, the UFC realized that they were facing this exact problem. The promotion realized that if the finale was going to generate any kind of interest, it would have to actually place as little emphasis as possible on the fighters from the show. Rather than focusing on the contestants, the finale was a card packed with current UFC talent.
In an effort to ensure that this wouldn’t backfire, the promotion made sure that the guys filling in for whoever was actually on this season of The Ultimate Fighter were guys you’ve heard of. One great fight led to another great fight, and pretty soon we were anticipating one of the best free shows we’ve been given in a while. As we wrote yesterday, on paper, this card wasn’t so much a TUF Finale as it was a genuinely stacked lineup of free fights that included one main card match between two guys you’ve never seen before.
Even though injuries scrapped the fight between this season’s coaches (as is tradition), and Jamie Varner was forced off of the card at the last minute (more on that later), this event exceeded all of our expectations. Actually, that puts things too mildly: this may have been, top to bottom, the best event of 2012. Let that sink in: A TUF Finale produced a legitimate candidate for Event of the Year – when was the last time we’ve been able to say THAT?
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you haven’t been keeping up with a television series, taking the time on a Saturday night to watch the series finale is a gigantic waste of time. Heading into the finale of a season that we could not have cared less about, the UFC realized that they were facing this exact problem. The promotion realized that if the finale was going to generate any kind of interest, it would have to actually place as little emphasis as possible on the fighters from the show. Rather than focusing on the contestants, the finale was a card packed with current UFC talent.
In an effort to ensure that this wouldn’t backfire, the promotion made sure that the guys filling in for whoever was actually on this season of The Ultimate Fighter were guys you’ve heard of. One great fight led to another great fight, and pretty soon we were anticipating one of the best free shows we’ve been given in a while. As we wrote yesterday, on paper, this card wasn’t so much a TUF Finale as it was a genuinely stacked lineup of free fights that included one main card match between two guys you’ve never seen before.
Even though injuries scrapped the fight between this season’s coaches (as is tradition), and Jamie Varner was forced off of the card at the last minute (more on that later), this event exceeded all of our expectations. Actually, that puts things too mildly: this may have been, top to bottom, the best event of 2012. Let that sink in: A TUF Finale produced a legitimate candidate for Event of the Year – when was the last time we’ve been able to say THAT?
If there was a sour note to be taken from last night, it was the postponement of what appeared to have Fight of the Night written all over it, a lightweight fight between Jamie Varner and Melvin Guillard. Given the way that the rest of the fights played out, it’s hard to remain too upset that the fight didn’t go down last night as planned, but it’s still unfortunate that such an exciting fight was moved to UFC 155 at the last minute due to Varner’s stomach illness. A lot of people on Twitter are being quick to accuse Varner of pre-fight bitchassness, but then again, a lot of people on Twitter also think that having Bieber Fever is something they should advertise to the rest of the world (Keep your illnesses to yourselves, people – you don’t see me talking about my crippling drinking problem on the internet).
The main event of the evening pitted TUF 10 veterans Matt Mitrione and eventual winner Roy Nelson against one another. Given Roy’s experience advantage, as well as Mitrione taking the fight on short notice, the quick victory for Big Country wasn’t much of a surprise. We all know that Nelson packs one hell of a punch and has no problem taking out the lower-to-mid level heavyweights, the question now is whether or not he can start picking up victories against the deep end of the heavyweight division.
Also, let’s not be too hard on the Blackzilian by association, Matt Mitrione. It’s hard to imagine that Mitrione’s decision to take the fight on short notice wasn’t at all influenced by the public shaming his boss put on him for turning down Daniel Cormier, because Matt simply isn’t at Roy’s level yet. He entered the fight with six professional bouts, and even though all of them were in the UFC, only two of those fights were victories over fighters still employed by the promotion (and only one of those fighters still competes as a heavyweight). With a little more time, Matt Mitrione can develop into one of the UFC’s better heavyweights, but for now, he’s not ready for fighters as experienced as Roy Nelson.
Elsewhere on the card:
-It was obvious from the start that despite Barry’s unimpressive 4-5 UFC record and Shane Del Rosario’s successful Muay Thai career that the former WBC Muay Thai heavyweight champion wanted absolutely nothing to do with HD on the feet. I don’t exactly blame Del Rosario, as Barry is a powerful puncher who lacks a competitive ground game. Still, his strategy was for nothing in the end. Barry may not have much of a ground game, but as he demonstrated in his victory over Christian Morecraft and continued to demonstrate last night, he has enough of one to avoid submissions from fellow strikers. Once the second round began, Barry ended the fight before Del Rosario could attempt another takedown, picking up Knockout of the Night.
– Yes, Barry took home Knockout of the Night on a card that produced six of them. Personally, I think Rustam Khabilov should have been given the KOTN bonus, although I highly doubt he left the arena without some sort of locker room bonus. Khabilov was absolutely flawless in his UFC debut, making Vinc Pichel look like just another TUF washout (which makes sense, considering he is one). Besides, how many fights end via knockout by suplex?
– I don’t agree with Mike Pyle that his victory puts him in the Top 10, but he delivered a quick, entertaining knockout over James Head last night, making it three victories by knockout in a row. Three straight knockouts certainly make a case for a step-up in competition. We’ll talk about the rankings once we see how he fares with stiffer competition.
– Can someone please hook Jonathan Brookins up with a boxing coach? Brookins is a tough fighter with a passable ground game, but his striking hasn’t changed since his TUF days. While it was good enough to beat the not-quite-readies of reality television, a fighter of Dustin Poirier’s caliber can weather the early storm that Brookins brought last night. Once Poirier was able to regain his composure, it was business as usual, as Poirier put Brookins away with a D’arce choke at 4:15 of the first round.
– No, Poirier did not take home Submission of the Night. Instead, TJ Waldburger took home SOTN honors for his more competitive battle against Nick Catone, which ended with a technical submission by triangle choke just over one minute into the second round.
– Fight of the Night went to Tim Elliott vs. Jared Papazian, although FOTN honors are a bit misleading. Usually, the best fight on the card is the closest, most competitive fight on the card. While this fight was certainly entertaining, it sure wasn’t close and it damn sure wasn’t competitive. It was fifteen minutes of Tim Elliott doing whatever the hell he wanted while Jared Papazian offered minimal resistance. The scorecards read 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26 for a reason.
– One last note: At the beginning of this season of TUF, I wrote “Cool reality show, bro. Let me know who wins it.” Dude’s name is Colton Smith. Wrestlehumping, free Harley, tending to my crippling drinking problem…hey, remember how this card had six knockouts? That was awesome.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Roy Nelson def. Matt Mitrione via TKO (punches), 2:58 Round One
Colton Smith def. Mike Ricci via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
Pat Barry def. Shane Del Rosario via KO (punch), 0:26 Round Two
Destin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins via submisison (D’Arce choke), 4:15 Round One
Preliminary Card Results:
Mike Pyle def. James Head via TKO (knee and punches), 1:55 Round One
Johnny Bedford def. Marcos Vinicius via TKO (strikes), 1:00 Round Two
Rustam Khabilov def. Vinc Pichel via KO (slam and punches), 2:15 Round One
TJ Waldburger def. Nick Catone via technical submission (triangle choke), 1:04 Round Two
Hugo Viana def. Reuben Duran via KO (punch), 4:05 Round One
Mike Rio def. John Cofer via submission (armbar), 4:11 Round Three
Tim Elliott def. Jared Papazian via Unanimous Decision (30-25 x2, 30-26)
Roy “Big Country” Nelson is no stranger to making headlines. Nelson is routinely one of the more outspoken fighters in the game today, and has no qualms about making his opinion known. It’s a trait that’s annoyed Dana White to no end, but has helped make Nelson one of the more popular fighters in the sport.
