July - 2016
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
8
“Big Country” went into
something of a tailspin. He
bet on himself, taking a
short-notice fight against
Stipe Miocic to save a card,
and instead lost a decision
to the man who would go
on to become champion.
In his next fight, he did the
exact same thing, losing
a decision to a man who
would go on to become
light heavyweight cham-
pion, Daniel Cormier.
If nothing else, you can at
least say Nelson was losing
to nothing but the best,
right?
The problem is just that for
Nelson, however. The Ul-
timate Fighter 10 winner,
former IFL champion, and
champion of the people
has always struggled when
going up against the best.
He’s good — better than
many critics like to give the
portly slugger credit for —
but not great, and pushing
into his forties, it’s unlikely
that Nelson is about to start
showing signs of greatness
this late in the game. Of
course, there’s still a chance
for him — because on a
good day he could knock
out a Mac truck — and he
knows it. However, to get
back into the title picture,
or even stay relevant, Nel-
son needs to win.
Which makes his fight
against Derek Lewis at UFC
Fight Night 90 a must-win
situation.
Oh, Nelson isn’t coming
off a loss, and he’s not
about to get cut (though
too many more goose-
eggs, and the UFC might
be tempted to let him go
— lets face it, Dana White
is not a Roy Nelson fan).
However, his last fight
was a horrid debacle of
a bout against Jared Ro-
sholt, and though it was
no fault of Nelson’s, it left
a bad taste in many fan’s
mouths. Rosholt ran from
Nelson for three rounds,
and was shown the door
from the UFC afterwards.
Nelson, who picked up the
decision win, moved on,
but he now needs a win
against someone who will
actually fight him.
Enter Derek Lewis. Long
considered a “scary”
fighter, he, like Nelson, is a
heavy hitting fan favorite.
This fight could potentially
be a passing of the guard,
but like Nelson, Lewis has
struggled with steps up in
competition. At least he
had, until he met, and de-
molished, Gabriel Gonza-
ga this past April in a short
notice bout. Lewis is now
on a three-fight win streak.
Nelson’s scalp would give
him an argument for be-
ing in the top ten, while
he represents the same for
Nelson, who is currently
ranked 10th in the UFC of-
ficial rankings (Lewis is just
two spots down at 12th).
This fight is an easy sell
for fans — more than
likely, someone is getting
knocked out. It feels like
a fun fight. Yet for Nel-
son, it’s anything but. A
loss here, and he’s likely
out of any potential title
talk for good. A win, and
he’s looking at a fight with
someone higher up in the
rankings.
That’s the exciting part
about heavyweight — ca-
reers can change off a
single fight. It’s a double-
edged sword however,
and right now, it’s hanging
over Nelson like the Sword
of Damocles.
