Tag: Roy Nelson

Only a week ago, MMA fans held their breath, worried that the TUF 16 Finale between Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin might be off after “The Engineer” injured his knee.

But you can breathe a sigh of relief, because the UFC has announced the fight for December 15, with tickets due to go on sale on October 12.

According to a press release, the heated rivalry between two of the sport’s hardest-hitting heavyweights will be settled as the UFC returns to The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.

Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Carwin will meet TUF season 10 winner Nelson in the night’s five-round main event, after the two end their stint as opposing coaches on the latest season of TUF.

Also crowned at the Vegas event will be the winner of TUF 16, which features welterweight fighters.

“Roy Nelson has gotten under Shane Carwin’s skin all season and Shane’s ready to try to knock him out,” UFC president Dana White said. “I don’t expect this one to go the distance.”

“Roy and Shane were civil to each other on ‘TUF,’ but they can’t stand each other and after having to spend six weeks together Shane said he can’t wait to knock Roy out,” White added. “These two are both known for having heavy hands. Chances are someone is getting knocked out. Best part is the coaches will fight on the TUF Finale Live on FX from Hard Rock Hotel here in Vegas.”

Tickets for the show are priced at $304, $254, $179, $154, $104 and $79 and can be bought from the Hard Rock Box Office, Ticketmaster or charge-by-phone at 800.745.3000.

The main card will also air live on FX at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

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Three episodes into its season, “The Ultimate Fighter 16: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson” is still suffering from poor TV ratings, reportedly drawing 775,000 viewers on FX this past Friday.

MMA Junkie notes this as the lowest-rated episode in the series’ history, continuing a downward trend that hasn’t recovered since the debut of “The Ultimate Fighter: Live” on March 9th, 2012.

According to their data, viewership has continued to drop by significant amounts each episode:

• “The Ultimate Fighter 16” episode No. 1: 947,000 viewers
• “The Ultimate Fighter 16” episode No. 2: 872,000 viewers
• “The Ultimate Fighter 16” episode No. 3: 775,000 viewers

Ever since “TUF” debuted on FX, a condition of the UFC’s seven-year TV deal with FOX, ratings have slowly regressed from its 1.2 million-viewer network premiere.

In addition to the show’s rating troubles, UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin—coaching opposite Roy Nelson—caused a stir when he posted about a knee injury on his Twitter account a few days ago.

According to MMA Payout, the UFC averaged 1.84 million viewers during its last five seasons on Spike TV. “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” (also known as “TUF 10”) was listed as the highest-rated season in that span with an average of 3.0 million viewers. By comparison, “TUF: Live” averaged 1.01 million during its run on FX.

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The MMA community took a collective sigh of relief when Shane Carwin and his team announced that his recent knee injury wouldn’t prevent him from facing Roy Nelson. The two men are coaches on The Ultimate Fighter and have weeks to build up to what is sure to be a grudge match.

Carwin was able to talk to Tapout Radio about a number of topics and Bloody Elbow has the key quotes. He began the discussion about settling any doubts fans may have about the knee injury.

It happened during wrestling. A guy was in on a single and I went to throw my hips back and I heard ‘pop! pop! pop!’, so we stopped and he had to help me up. It’s down in size now. It was about the size of a watermelon, but now it’s the size of a cantaloupe. The good news is the doctor doesn’t think I need to have surgery, and we’re still going to push to stay in that fight on December 15th, and I think we’ll be good to go.

It’s no secret that Carwin isn’t the biggest fan, or a fan at all of his future opponent “Big Country.” The show was built around the differences in personality between the two men and Carwin isn’t holding back on his disdain of Nelson. The former interim-heavyweight champion even went as far as to say Nelson is a backstabber.

I don’t respect that guy. I don’t like him. I just think he’s disrespectful. He’ll talk all kinds of sh*t behind your back and stuff, but then when he’s at my face, all he wanted to do was talk about the UFC contracts to me. I’m like, ‘Who are you, man? Get out of my face.’ I’m just not up for that type of bullsh*t. I hate people that when you turn around, they’re stabbing you in the back, and when you’re back at their face, they’re trying to be your best friend. That doesn’t work for me. There’s nobody else I want to fight more. I can’t wait to fight this guy. I’m excited that he’ll be the first guy I get to punch when I get back to action.

The difference between the two is apparent in their coaching styles as well, something Carwin was quick to pick up on.

He’s telling everybody, ‘just do enough to win’, and I was telling my guys, ‘if you go out there and perform for these guys, and put on exciting fights, win or lose, they’re probably gonna bring you back.’ There’s a bunch of guys that are like that. My view is to go out and give it your all for the sport that you love, and his was to just do enough to win, so you can get that six figure contract.

I’m sure there will be plenty of back and forth banter between these two men in the media while TUF is on the air, but the most important part of the interview is Carwin‘s knee will be healthy come Dec. 15.

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UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin may have averted the curse of The Ultimate Fighter coach; but only just.

According to MMA Weekly, Carwin has suffered a minor knee injury training for a fight against Roy Nelson—but his manager says it will not keep him from fighting ‘Big Country’ at the season finale on December 15.

Carwin was due in England to help promote UFC on Fuel 5 which takes place in Nottingham this Saturday, however the former interim heavyweight champion Tweeted on Thursday:

ATTN UK FANS:I hurt my knee training and I will not be able to make the signing with the amazing people @fearlessuk #Disappointed

— Shane Carwin (@ShaneCarwin) September 27, 2012

However, according to MMA Weekly:

“Carwin’s manager Jason Genet of Ingrained Media told MMAWeekly.com that he injured the knee while in wrestling practice, but he suffered no major tears or damage to the knee.

“The injury was enough for Carwin to cancel a trip to England this week for a signing, but with time to rehab and recover the former heavyweight champion should be ready in time for his Dec. 15 showdown with Roy Nelson.”

Carwin and Nelson are opposing coaches of this year’s season of TUF. In the past, the show has been beset with injuries to its coaches, who are expected to face each other in the Octagon as part of the season finale.

Some of those injured during filming of the show include Tito Ortiz, who needed surgery on his neck; Brock Lesnar, who came down with diverticulitis; Dominick Cruz, who injured his knee; and Vitor Belfort, who injured his hand.

Carwin himself hasn’t seen Octagon action since getting battered by Junior Dos Santos in June 2011. The 37-year-old has needed multiple back surgeries and has only recently rehabilitated himself back to health.

Khurram Aziz is a Feautred Columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @khurramaziz1981

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