It’s official – a much talked about heavyweight match-up between Daniel Cormier Vs Roy Nelson is going to happen and has been confirmed as UFC 166’s co-main event in Houston, Texas.
Cormier has been talking up this fight for quite some time, and after initially appearing reluctant Nelson has warmed to the idea, as apparently have the UFC brass.
Confirmation of the bout also means that Nelson has officially re-signed with the UFC after his previous contract expired following his loss to Stipe Miocic last month. Nelson hasn’t always had the best relationship with UFC president Dana White, but despite that defeat both parties had indicated they were keen to make a new deal.
In total Nelson has produced a 6-4 record in the UFC to date, and prior to his loss to Miocic he had been on a three fight winning streak. Cormier made a successful start to his UFC campaign with a win over Frank Mir on FOX back in April and the former Strikeforce grand-prix champion is undefeated in his MMA career with a perfect 12-0 record.
Interestingly, UFC 166 will be headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, so potentially if Cormier was to win he could potentially be in line for a title shot.
That would hinge on who won that title bout though as both Cormier and current champion Velasquez have been adamant that they won’t compete against each other due to the fact that they are team-mates. In fact Cormier has been plotting a move down to light-heavyweight instead in order to fight Jon Jones.
If Dos Santos were to reclaim the belt however then that could greenlight Cormier to take his shot at the title. Despite his recent loss Roy Nelson still has title aspirations of his own though, so look for him to attempt to throw a spanner in the works by taking out Cormier on October 19th.
