Roy “Big Country” Nelson didn’t perform well at UFC 161. In his heavyweight matchup with Stipe Miocic, Nelson was slow, out of shape and thoroughly outclassed. It may well have marked both the low point and the end of his UFC tenure.The one positive di…
Roy “Big Country” Nelson didn’t perform well at UFC 161. In his heavyweight matchup with StipeMiocic, Nelson was slow, out of shape and thoroughly outclassed. It may well have marked both the low point and the end of his UFC tenure.
The one positive display in Nelson’s showing was his capacity to absorb damage. While he mounted essentially no offense and really didn’t put much of an effort into defending himself, the beating he held out against only served to grow the legend of his granite chin.
According to Fightmetric, Big Country absorbed 106 significant strikes from Miocic, a noted power puncher, and rarely looked to be on the cusp of unconsciousness. Taking such punishment is a half-genuine, half-dubious achievement, but it’s hard not to be impressed—or at least amazed—with Nelson’s fortitude.
Yes, Nelson’s special talent was very much on display at UFC 161, and his willingness to eat strikes from Miocic culminated in a record-breaking accomplishment.
During the event’s post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White pointed out (via MMA Weekly) that “Roy Nelson broke a UFC record tonight: 437 significant strikes absorbed without being knocked out.”
The feat, which spans 10 UFC bouts, is quite remarkable in itself, but even more so when you consider the laundry list of heavy hitters Nelson has faced.
Brendan Schaub, Junior dos Santos, Mirko Filipovic, Matt Mitrione, Cheick Kongo and Miocic all touched Nelson’s chin, but none of them put him out. Add in that Fabricio Werdum landed 91 significant strikes on him, including a bevy of powerful knees, and the record is just plain staggering.
The record turns Nelson’s chin from highly regarded to officially immortal. The question is, now that he is at the end of his UFC contract, will Nelson bring that chin back to the Octagon and build on his record, or will he journey elsewhere to frustrate knockout-hungry opponents?
On Saturday night, light heavyweights collided in a major way at UFC 161.In the evening’s main event, former world champions Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans did battle for 15 closely contested minutes. At the end of the bout, it was anyone’s guess whose…
On Saturday night, light heavyweights collided in a major way at UFC 161.
In the evening’s main event, former world champions Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans did battle for 15 closely contested minutes. At the end of the bout, it was anyone’s guess whose arm would be raised. When the night was over, Henderson found himself on the wrong end of a split decision for the second time this year.
How did the clash of contenders impact the UFC light heavyweight rankings?
Here is a look at Bleacher Report’s top 10 light heavyweights after UFC 161.
Dan Henderson won’t be competing for an UFC title at 205 pounds any time soon. Or likely any time at all.That much is clear after Henderson lost his second consecutive bout at UFC 161. Henderson looked to land the vaunted “H-Bomb” early and often but t…
Dan Henderson won’t be competing for an UFC title at 205 pounds any time soon. Or likely any time at all.
That much is clear after Henderson lost his second consecutive bout at UFC 161. Henderson looked to land the vaunted “H-Bomb” early and often but the opportunity never came. What momentum Henderson was able to gain in the first few rounds by backing Evans up was completely erased in the final frame as Evans pushed the former Olympian against the cage and even dropped Hendo with a clean shot.
It furthered the notion that Henderson has become a pure one-trick pony at this point in his career. That one-trick is extremely dangerous but Henderson’s decreasing athletic abilities have left that “H-Bomb” pretty useless.
With any title hopes effectively eroded in the light heavyweight division, Henderson will likely have to travel down to 185 pounds to seek a new avenue to a title match. Henderson has gone on the record numerous times about his desire to not cut down to 185 pounds anymore but the prospects of securing that elusive UFC title in quick fashion could be a deciding factor.
Rashad “Suga” Evans picked up a victory on Saturday at UFC 161, but it hardly did him any favors in terms of MMA fans. It was a rather lackluster showing in what has become a rather lackluster run from Evans in recent years.Evans has never really been …
Rashad “Suga” Evans picked up a victory on Saturday at UFC 161, but it hardly did him any favors in terms of MMA fans. It was a rather lackluster showing in what has become a rather lackluster run from Evans in recent years.
Evans has never really been the popular kid on the block despite his UFC success. His strategy in recent fights hasn’t done anything to change fans’ opinions on him, but is the dislike more of a result from the UFC’s booking of Evans?
In pro wrestling, heels (bad guys) are booked against babyfaces (good guys) to make their characters disliked by the fans. The heels usually face the guys who are universally loved in order to get them over with the crowd to where fans want to boo them.
Has the UFC used this method with Evans?
Just take a look at the career of Evans and look at all the fan favorites he’s faced throughout his career.
It all began with Evans’ stint on The Ultimate Fighter II. Evans was a small heavyweight who was actually taking it to the big guys. Rather than embracing Evans as an underdog, fans viewed “Suga” as a cocky fighter due to his arguing with fan favorite and MMA legend Matt Hughes.
However, that ill will disappeared and Evans went on to enjoy some success in the Octagon. This included wins over well-known names like Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz. The ugly fight with Ortiz was followed by a split decision over Michael Bisping (before he became public enemy No. 1) which left Evans in limbo as far as where “Suga” belonged in the division.
Evans’ run of destroying fan favorites would begin at UFC 88.
“Suga” would face off with another MMA legend in former champ Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. It was supposed to be Liddell bouncing back against the young upstart. Instead, Evans nearly decapitated Liddell and earned a number of knockout accolades in the process.
Evans dancing around the Octagon to celebrate after dropping one of the most universally loved fighters only continued the discussion about Evans’ confidence and cockiness.
Evans would follow that performance by defeating yet another fan favorite in Forrest Griffin for the title at UFC 92. That win gave Evans yet another high-profile fight and victory over a guy fans viewed as one of their favorites.
The cockiness returned once more at UFC 98 when Evans faced LyotoMachida. Although Machida has drawn mixed reviews recently, at this time the Brazilian was all the rave in the MMA world. The karate master was coming off very impressive performances, and his strange fighting style drew quite a bit of intrigue.
The former champ would get back on the right track by defeating Thiago Silva, but once again, the performance was very lackluster. After Silva would come another high-profile fight against a fan favorite in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
By this time, Evans was already one of the least-liked fighters on the UFC’s roster. Going toe-to-toe with “Rampage” in verbal insults while coaching on TUF only furthered the distance between Evans and fans.
Yet, Evans came into his bout with Jackson with the intention of planting Jackson into the canvas with a knockout blow. Both men promised to trade power shots with one another, but it seemed only one of them had true intentions.
Evans landed a huge punch to begin the fight, but it’d be the only shred of offense Evans would put up against Jackson. “Suga” would employ a wall-and-stall attack that would cause even the most conservative fighters would’ve asked for more action.
Not only did Evans defeat yet another big fan favorite, but he did so in a very boring manner.
A rematch with Ortiz followed the Jackson victory, only this time it was Evans who was playing the part of the bad guy. Ortiz had become more popular in the final years of his UFC career, even changing his nickname to “The People’s Champion.”
Evans was coming off the pedestrian showing against Jackson and was also in the midst of an ugly break up with former coach Greg Jackson. As with any dispute, fans began to take sides, and with Jon Jones becoming one of the most popular fighters in the UFC at that time, Evans was easy to peg as the bad guy.
The former light heavyweight champ would face another popular fighter in Phil Davis following the victory over Ortiz. Davis has a prominent presence in the Online MMA community and has been tagged as a blue-chip prospect by many in the MMA world. A victory over Evans would finally vindicate the praise Davis had earned since entering MMA after winning a Division I wrestling title.
Instead, Davis failed to do much of anything, and Evans took full advantage. “Suga” utilized his wrestling to take down the former wrestling champ, but Evans also failed to do much of anything with those takedowns.
Even after all these mishaps in and outside the Octagon, Evans had the chance to finally redeem himself at UFC 145. He was facing his former training partner and now UFC champ “Bones” Jones.
He seemed to enter the contest with Jones riding a wave of positive energy from fans. The “Bones” Jones act had grown very stale with fans, and Jones had become one of the most despised fighters on the UFC’s roster. Evans entered the contest as “the knight in shining armor” as the man who could topple the seemingly unbeatable champion.
Instead, Evans fell into Jones’ trap and looked like a deer in the headlights as the champion routinely beat Evans to the punch. The dominant decision sent Evans back out of favor with the UFC fanbase.
The next bout would possibly be Evans’ biggest mishap in the Octagon since the Jackson fight. Facing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Evans was heavily favored coming in. Rather than use his speed, powerful punches or wrestling, Evans chose to play pattycake with the Brazilian. The 15 minutes of “fighting” could easily be called the worst fight of 2013.
Evans was then placed in a no-win situation this Saturday at UFC 161. He was facing yet another popular fighter in Henderson, and yet again found himself in a high-profile position. Originally supposed to be a feature fight on the card, injuries forced the UFC to bump Evans vs. Henderson to the main event.
It was bad enough Evans was facing a popular fighter, but “Suga” once again left more to be desired by his performance in the Octagon. Evans was already going to be scrutinized for either losing three straight or by taking out a popular fighter, but the least he could’ve done was put on a good show.
Now, Evans once again finds himself the target of negative attention from fans.
Part of it is the fact Evans has faced a number of fan favorites in his high-profile matchups but “Suga” has also made his own bed of negativity from fans. His confidence has routinely been portrayed as arrogance, and unless acting in a comical manner (see ChaelSonnen), fans aren’t likely to latch on to cockiness.
Evans hasn’t seemed to care about how fans view him thus far in his UFC career, and I doubt that will change. But I’m sure Evans will be looking for that fan support when his name comes up on the UFC’s chopping block should he continue to put on lackluster showings.
Roy Nelson was entering the final fight on his contract and filled his time during the week taking potshots at Dana White and Daniel Cormier.On Saturday night at UFC 161, Nelson traded his verbal potshots for his haymaker right hand. It’s a punch that’…
Roy Nelson was entering the final fight on his contract and filled his time during the week taking potshots at Dana White and Daniel Cormier.
On Saturday night at UFC 161, Nelson traded his verbal potshots for his haymaker right hand. It’s a punch that’s served the big man well in his last few fights. Indeed, Nelson made quick work of his last three opponents.
That wouldn’t be the case at UFC 161, though. Nelson looked absolutely dreadful in getting hammered for 15 minutes by Stipe Miocic. Not only did Nelson see his three-fight win streak snapped by taking a beating, he also lost nearly every bargaining chip he had going into contract negotiations.
White’s disdain of “Big Country” is well documented. Nobody would question his decision if he did not re-sign Nelson after this past showing. Yet, there’s still a few reasons White may want to keep the well-rounded star (pun intended) on the UFC’s roster.
Rashad Evans defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 161 due to the opinion of a single judge. Evans earned the victory by split decision on Saturday night. Two judges scored the meeting 29-28 in his favor, the third 29-28 for Henderson, according to E…
Rashad Evans defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 161 due to the opinion of a single judge.
Evans earned the victory by split decision on Saturday night. Two judges scored the meeting 29-28 in his favor, the third 29-28 for Henderson, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Like in most split-decision finishes, the loser could have just as easily been pegged the winner. To erase such doubt surrounding the result—or to raise even more—UFC president Dana White should schedule a rematch between the fighters.
Henderson told Fuel TV after the fight that he thought he won.
Henderson may have not been the only fighter in the Octagon who doubted the result. MMAJunkie.com sure couldn’t tell by Evans’ reaction to the judges’ decision that he believed he won the match.
Not only do Henderson and Evans deserve more closure between the two of them, but they aren’t ready to fight light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Henderson hasn’t won a match since 2011. He lost his last two in split decisions against Evans and LyotoMachida. Meanwhile, Jones boasts triumphs over both fighters, even forcing Machida to submit in the second round of their bout.
Their results against common opponents suggest Henderson doesn’t deserve a title shot. Evans doesn’t deserve one, either. He already faced off against Jones at UFC 145 and lost by unanimous decision.
Evans followed that loss up with another by unanimous decision to Antônio Rogério Nogueira. ESPN suggested the win over Henderson could put Evans back into title contention. If so, he’s several spots back on a waiting list.
Alexander Gustafsson will fight Jones at UFC 165 on Sept. 21. Machida, according to the UFC Fighter Rankings, is the No. 1 contender. Meanwhile, Glover Teixeira is 4-0 in the UFC, with each of his victories coming since May 26 of last year. He is the No. 4 contender.
Nogueira is No. 5 and he’s far more deserving of a shot at Jones than No. 6 Evans. Nogueira not only beat Evans, but he never fought Jones.
Evans and Henderson aren’t remotely ready for a title fight. They should silence the debate from their debatable decision before even thinking about a showdown with Jones.
David Daniels is a breaking news writer at Bleacher Report and news editor at Wade-O Radio.
Roy “Big Country” Nelson didn’t perform well at UFC 161. In his heavyweight matchup with Stipe Miocic, Nelson was slow, out of shape and thoroughly outclassed. It may well have marked both the low point and the end of his UFC tenure.