Roy Nelson
Nelson lost his third match in four fights against Hunt, which also marked his second loss (out of 10) via a stoppage.
While the 38-year-old has certainly passed his peak as an MMA fighter, his name value and continuing appeal amongst the casual MMA fanbase means that he will likely get at least one more fight in the Octagon.
The UFC matchmakers can go two ways with Nelson as he enters the twilight of his career. First, they can use him as a gatekeeper for up and coming heavyweights who have shown potential to be future title contenders (think Jared Rosholt and Ruslan Magomedov).
Going that route would give the up and coming fighters – should they beat Nelson – a greater amount of hype among fans as well as a win over a seasoned veteran and Ultimate Fighter winner on their resumes.
That route, however, means that a fan favourite like Nelson would not be used in ‘big money’ fights that have the potential to be barnburners.
Because of that, the best route for the UFC brass to take, at least in Nelson’s next fight, would be to put him against another big name veteran coming off a loss or two.
One such fighter who perfectly fits the bill is Antonio Silva. As mentioned, Bigfoot suffered a first-round knockout los against Arlovski in Brazil last weekend on the eve of his 35th birthday.
A Bigfoot vs. Nelson fight would instantly gain a lot of viewers given their reputations as fighters who hit hard and prefer the stand-up game.
Both fighters are also rarely in undertraining fights, something shown by the fact Bigfoot and Big Country have seven ‘Of The Night’ awards between them*.
Five out of Bigfoot’s six losses come via TKO/KO, something that would be in Nelson’s favour. That statistic is deceiving, however, as Silva has shown that he can take hard shots, face adversity and come from behind to win fights.
This was shown in Bigfoot’s victories over Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, as well as in his draw against Mark Hunt.
Nelson, on the other hand, has shown that he can end a fight at any stage of the game with just one punch, as he has done against Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo, Matt Mitrione and Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira.
What all of this means is that Bigfoot vs. Nelson easily has the potential to be a Fight of the Night and would be ideally placed on a Pay Per View event that needs a big name barnburner bout to boost its depth.
*Antonio Silva forfeited his prize money for his Fight of the Night against Mark Hunt after he failed a post-fight drug test.
