Who next for Roy Nelson?

I think the best option is the winner of Crocop vs Rothwell. He has a SD loss to Rothwell im sure he would be keen to Avenge. But If Mirko beats Rothwell he could go after him. Nelson and Crocop couldnt ne that far apart in Rankings and it would make for an interesting fight.

I'd really like to see him fight Mir.

They are polar opposites in terms of appearance and personality. But similar in terms of styles(good hands, great ground game).

That would be a great fight but I think Mir will look for a higher ranking fight, the only way we see that happen is if Kongo KO's him! Like the idea of that fight though.

Nelson will need a couple of wins first though. You're right about Mir. He'll only want top 10 guys. Even if Kongo batters him.

Hulk Hogan doesn't have an opponent...

Well, i'm saying that Rothwell beats CroCop, then he fights Nelson.

It would be an interesting fight, considering Rothwell won a split decision against Nelson in IFL. A rematch in UFC would seem like a logical move.

I think Nelson would beat either CroCop or Rothwell at the minute. Unless the real Mirko turns up.

i doubt there going to throw in with the top guys just yet maybe Antoni Hardonk thats a fight i can definetely see him winning and Hardonk should give him a good challenge as long he doesnt get taken down automatically

Nelson has been in with top guys. He fought Arlovski and most likely would have beaten him if that fight had been anywhere other than EliteXC. And he gave Monson a good fight. Both of those guys are top 15 and have been top 10(Arlovski was top 5 when Nelson fought him). I think Hardonk is a level below Nelson.

I agree that Roy currently is around the ranking of Rothwell/Crocop/Kongo maybe also Gonzaga, he would have to go through these guys (not all of them of course) to get to Mir/JDS/Cain/Carwin etc....

Dont forget Roy is not like previous TUF winners, he is 33 and is very experienced and former IFL champion so dont be suprised if he gets thrown in with these fighters early on.

Roy is by far the best fighter to win TUF IMO. At the time of winning. I think Sanchez and Evans are both better than him now, but neither were as good as him when they won.

I said early that i think it's disgraceful that he was made go through TUF to get into the UFC. He's fat but still a top fighter.

A fight against Gonzaga would be good.

Gonzaga may have a history of choking but I cant see Nelson beating him! I think anyone big enough not to be smothered by him will cut a lot of his advantages. If Rothwell can beat him Gonzaga can. Hardonk is probabally a level below him, Pat Barry would do for an opponent though, I think a smaller striker like Barry or Crocop would make for a fun fight with him.

Gonzaga vs Nelson would not be a main event so Gonzaga would win. Gonzaga is better on the ground and standing up. He doesn't have the BJJ skills of Werdum (I know Nelson os very good but Werdum is one of the best today) He doesn't have the wrestling of Randy and doesn't have the power of Carwin. Gonzaga was doing really well in all those fights I have mentioned, he broke Randy's arm, was on top of Werdum pounding away and had Carwin in serious trouble. Gonzaga is a good fighter and would be too much for Nelson. Nelson should look for someone like Tush right now, I guy who was deemed to good for TUF. Nelson would easily beat Barry because Barry has no ground game. Winner of Rothwell/Cro Cop could be fun but Tush should be his first fight.

That would be a good Idea as long as Tush's balls have descended after tha Kick Gonzaga hit him!

Ye I still don't think he has recovered. I still can't beleive he continued after that.

Gonzaga is not better on the ground than Roy Nelson. He hits harder but he's not good as good a technique standing up either. I think Nelson would beat Gonzaga.

Gonzaga has much better ground cred, he has one of the highest pass rates in the UFC. Nelson didn't look too good on the ground, maybe against guys like McSweeney and Kimbo who have zero ground game. Against Wren he did nothing. Only guy Gonzaga looked bad against on the ground was Werdum, he did OK and Werdum is one of the best ground specialists in MMA.
Gonzaga won the Mundails in 2004 which is one of the toughest grappling tourtuments in the world. Its not even close Gonzaga is a lot better.

Technichally Nelson isn't that good, he is ok and yes better than Gonzaga but at HW technique in striking has to be very good for it to be effective. Unless your Cro Cop or Arvloski you need to have sheer power. Gonzaga has a lot more power and one punch and Nelson would be out.

If Rothwell can beat Nelson, Gonzaga would murder him.

Anfields5thKing wrote:I'd really like to see him fight Mir.

They are polar opposites in terms of appearance and personality. But similar in terms of styles(good hands, great ground game).

Sorry to drag this thread back up but came across this on mmalinker:

Mir - Nelson

ChelseaQuinsfan wrote:Gonzaga has much better ground cred, he has one of the highest pass rates in the UFC. Nelson didn't look too good on the ground, maybe against guys like McSweeney and Kimbo who have zero ground game. Against Wren he did nothing. Only guy Gonzaga looked bad against on the ground was Werdum, he did OK and Werdum is one of the best ground specialists in MMA.
Gonzaga won the Mundails in 2004 which is one of the toughest grappling tourtuments in the world. Its not even close Gonzaga is a lot better.

Technichally Nelson isn't that good, he is ok and yes better than Gonzaga but at HW technique in striking has to be very good for it to be effective. Unless your Cro Cop or Arvloski you need to have sheer power. Gonzaga has a lot more power and one punch and Nelson would be out.

If Rothwell can beat Nelson, Gonzaga would murder him.

First off rothwell barely beat nelson and that was one of nelson's worst ever fight.

Gonzaga is massively over-rated on the ground and pass percentage is a bullshit stat that nobody except rogan and goldberg care about. Winning the mundials is impressive but doesn't show superiority over nelson. Nelson is excellent on the ground and has shown impressive BJJ in his MMA career than Gonzaga.

Nelson is 14-4 with 4 sub wins

Gonzaga is 11-4 with 6 sub wins over better opposition. He has beat Ricco Rodriguez, Marcio Cruz and Eduardo Telles in grappling competition. His Americana against Justin McCully was a thing of beauty. The only fighter that Gonzaga came up against in MMA that was better on the ground is Fabricio Werdum, and he is one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA.

Nelson doesn't have the BJJ of Werdum, the power of Carwin or the wrestling ability of Couture. Only way Nelson would win would be to suffocate Gonzaga with his stomach.

Nelson doesn't have the BJJ of Werdum, the power of Carwin or the wrestling ability of Couture. Only way Nelson would win would be to suffocate Gonzaga with his stomach.

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Nelson wins via tap-out due to "truffle shuffle suffocation" lol.

I actually feel Nelson got a couple of bum decsions I thought he beat Rothwell although close but got robbed against Monson and The Arlovski fight was a joke typical EliteXC bullshit.

I think Nelson vs Struve could be interesting.

Nelson vs Kongo?should be entertaining,plus kongo would be in seriuos trouble of being cut if he lost!(still smarting ovr the mir fight,man i hate that stripclub bouncer tossbag)

Justin McCully
Carmelo Marrero
Walter Farias
Brandon Lee Hinkle

Those are Gonzaga's submission victims. He was also given a submission due to exhaustion against Charlie Brown(not sure if it's THE charlie brown, but i'm looking into it). And a submission due to strikes against Cicero Cicero.

So, 4 real submissions against 4 cans.

Carmelo Marrero is a LHW who Gonzaga outweighed by close to 50 pounds.
Justin McCully has been subbed a bunch of times. Including once by Evan Tanner.
The other two are unknown bums. Brandon Lee Hinkle sounds like a serial killer.

Nelson's 4 subs are also against bums. But they were at least proper heavyweights.

And Nelson would have Arlovski on his list as well had that fight been anywhere other than EliteXC.

Marrero is not a can, a talented wrestler with good grappling skills. A little small for HW but he holds wins over Kongo.

McCully is a below average fighter but has some good wins like over Hardonk and Sanchez. Ok not good wins but it shows he isn't a complete can.

He has been subbed by Illoukhine (25 subs), Tanner (21 subs) some can and Gonzaga. McCully has 5 wins by sub.

The other two are bums, Brandon Lee Hinkle really does sound like a serial killer

I forgot where i was going with this, oh ye Gonzaga's sub wins are better than Nelsons.

Nelson got unlucky (unlucky that he was fighting in Elite XC) but he wasn't winning the fight decisivley and it was a basic error that let Arlvoksi in.