Despite All Their Differences, Roy "Big Country" Nelson is the Perfect Opponent for Brock Lesnar
By: Oliver Saenz Posted On: October 31, 2010 at 10:30am
A large number of people are wondering what’s next for Brock Lesnar, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion that has just recently fallen so hard from grace after receiving a humbling beating courtesy of new Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. Opinions seem to be mixed, as they always are when talks turn to Lesnar, with some boldly proclaiming that Lesnar will be champion again before 2011 is through while others believe he’ll go running back to the WWE with his tail between his legs and face the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Not only do I think that Brock Lesnar will stay in the UFC, I also think I have the perfect next opponent for him: the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10, former IFL champion “Big Country” Roy Nelson.
There are several reasons why I think Lesnar vs. Nelson would be a great match-up. First and foremost, Roy Nelson is ready for the best and he’s hungry to get back inside the Octagon now that his bout with Shane Carwin has fallen apart. And Lesnar finds himself in almost the exact same spot as the man he so famously submitted: with his back against the wall, needing to prove quite a lot in his next bout. If Roy Nelson fit the mold as the best opponent Shane Carwin could face to both get a huge win over and prove himself against, and Brock Lesnar fits Shane Carwin’s mold, then Lesnar/Nelson is more common sense than fantasy match-making.
Plus, let’s be honest here, it’s a fantastic aesthetic. These two couldn’t possibly be more different. It would be quite a spectacle to see the hulking Viking goliath take on the curly-haired big-bellied brawler. I wouldn’t call this a “freakshow” match despite the huge difference in the physiques of both men, though. I think both Lesnar and Nelson have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they belong in the UFC. This has the potential to be a fantastic fight based solely on the strengths of both men, seeing the disparity in body builds between the man that’s seemingly carved out of granite and the man who carves a path through Burger King would only be a bonus.
Another interesting thing about this match is that both men have all the tools necessary to win and win big. If Lesnar can avoid Nelson’s stand-up, he could probably take Nelson down through sheer force alone. Nelson doesn’t come from a wrestling background, and he certainly doesn’t have the wrestling pedigree that Cain Velasquez has. Lesnar’s takedowns only looked so bad against Velasquez because Velasquez himself is such an amazing wrestler, against Roy Nelson Lesnar’s dreaded Ground and Pound could end up working beautifully and scoring him a major and dominant win.
However, Roy Nelson has good stand-up and a vastly under-appreciated ground game. He also has an extremely solid chin, as seen in his recent bout with Junior dos Santos. I think Nelson has proved that he does have KO power, and I also think that Lesnar has proven unable to cope with the pressure of being rocked. If Nelson can clip Lesnar, I think “Big Country” may actually have it in him to take out the Vanilla Gorilla. Also, Lesnar would be wise to not sleep on Big Country’s ground game. Lesnar’s ground game is so effective because he can put so much weight on you, but the same holds true for Nelson. And if Lesnar tries to power out from underneath Nelson’s girth through sheer force alone, he may leave himself open to a submission.
Ultimately, I think this fight would be too close to call and that’s why I’d love to see it. It’s not a matter of me giving Lesnar more credit or Nelson more credit, I think it’s more about me giving both men the credit they deserve. Both men are highly gifted and very competitive athletes. Styles make fights while personalities sell tickets, and this match-up has the potential to be one of the best and biggest of 2011.
But what do you think, fans and friends? How interested would you be in a Brock Lesnar vs. Roy Nelson fight? And what do you think would win?
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Comments
brock will most defenitly win this contest as you can see both men are not technically gifted fighters ( ji jutsu and all that ) they rely too much on sheer power and drive force though roy has better stand up
than brock,, but wont stand a chance a gainst former champ if comes too a bull fight ,, as he did against cain at 121 !!!! he cant handle brock like that !!!!!!!!!!
brock will win hands down
speaking of brock<< he couldnt even defend himself against cain <<<< i was shocked to see him so exposed like that he needs to work on his defense asap
Wow im blown away once again by this article lol…..
Really roy nelson? hmmm somone has been drinking the kool aide again?
roy nelson is garbage plain and simple ok, hes face subpar heavy weights his whole stent in the ufc and the only reason i think hes still in the ufc is because of the tuf hype and the fact that he might sell dana a few more tickets. brock would destroy this guy it would be another uber hyped fight that would not live up to its name yep another $60 wasted guys!
how about we see brock against shane carwin agian who i think is the most talented heavy weight in the ufc or have brock vs randy couture and shane carwin vs frank mir and then have the winner of the two face off and then the winner of that faces the champ? it would be a great fight card and randy could make a last ditch effort on regaing a title? who wouldent want to see all 4 of those names on a fight card ?
o yea de los santos sucks! he couldent even finish the job against roy nelson! sorry i just had to get that off my chest
Okay, I like brock but what really makes me angry is that, whenever he gets hit on standup he covers up and doesn’t even tries to defend or attack the opponent. He should really change that or he will have no future.
@Lesnar Fan,
You said, “brock will most defenitly win this contest as you can see both men are not technically gifted fighters ( ji jutsu and all that )”.
FYI – Roy has a black belt in Jiu Jitsu from Renzo Gracie and has beaten Frank Mir in a grappling contest.
I think I’d call that “technically gifted”.
I would love to see Roy Nelson up with the “elites,” but I honestly don’t think he could win a fight against Brock Lesnar. I would love to see Roy Nelson come out on top in this fight, but I fear it could never happen, and believe that anyone pushing for it is trying to shoot for Brock Lesnar to make a quick return to title contention just as he had when he first entered the UFC,.. and didn’t deserve a title shot then either. I think Lesnar should have to fight his ass off to ever get back up to title contention. Lesnar vs Carwin 2, Lesnar vs Mir 3, and Lesnar vs the loser of Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos, before they give him another title shot. I started to respect Lesnar more as a fighter, and as a person, but I still can’t say I like him, so, whereas my opinion may be somewhat biased, I truly believe, whether or not I’m a fan of his, that he should be far away from being considered for title contention at this point in time, and not just for the fact that he got a horrible wake up call, for the fact that you are supposed to fight your way up to being considered the best, not just fight the same people over and over again, so with that, he should probably even fight someone like Matt Mitrione or Travis Browne, hell, throw him up against Todd Duffee for the hell of it- wouldn’t that be interesting for power shots?? and then make his way up to Carwin, Mir, and Velasquez/Dos Santos’s level. Love it or hate it, just my opinion.
A lot of people sleeping on Big Roy for this fight. He’s about 10 times more trained, seasoned and technically sound as Brock. And dude has an extreme low center of gravity, and very strong which will make him hard to take down. I think he can win vs Lesnar
vig took the words outta my mouth with the grappling win over Mir.earl did you not see Dos santos /Nelson?All of Juniors other opponents have fallen where Nelson stayed in it to the end and would not let himself be finished.Big Country has a very good chanct beating Brock.If Junior can’t finish Nelson Lesnar has no chance.It takes a very accurate and powerful striker(Arlovski) to ko nelson, and if Brock gets rocked his chances will dwindle even further, he can’t take punches like Roy can dish out.
@earl
Some of these comments just show me that some folks just do not do their homework. I would place a hefty bet on Nelson to win v. Lesnar.
@earl
do you even follow MMA at all ? how could you say JDS sucks ? he is one of the best strikers in the UFC heavy weight division and has great tackdown defense… just because you dont finish someone doesnt mean you suck… look at jon fitch he doesnt finish alot of guys he fights he wins by great wrestling in a unanimous decison he hasnt finshed alot of no name fighters like chris wilson or Brock larson that’s just a couple examples of a great fighter not finishing very good fighters and big country is a decent fighter…. so don’t say JDS sucks because he doesnt
lesnar is not an mma fihgter and he will never be ,,,,,, i watched his primetime show and he showed promise but that was all bull #$$% neither he could take punches or defend himself
))
he should’ve lost to carwin <<>>> all lesanr fans we wish him a good hunting trip and safe journey to the octagon once again
to his credit he has guts and heart ((( i was suprised how humble he was with the defeat with rogan after the fight )))) to come to the ufc after his spell at wwf
i was lenars harshest critic when he arrived to the ufc but u cannot say he is nat an mma fighter when he is fighting in the mma. and he was the ufc champion in arguably the most stacked division and has beaten the likes of randy couture, frank mir, and shane carwin, two of them former heavyweight champions
The ground game is what interests me the most in this fight. You don’t see Nelson on his back much, if ever, and Lesnar has the power to put him there. What’s going to happen? Or what if Nelson somehow gets on top?
The stand-up I can see being very sloppy which leaves room for a knock-out on either side. All in all, I’d give the ground to Lesnar and the stand-up would be a big wash. Wash or not, though, I dare say that that’s where the fight has the biggest chance of ending.
The standup a wash? Roy hung in there for 3 full rounds with JDS and everyone agrees JDS is the best striker in the heavyweight division. Brock got beaten silly by both Velasquez and Carwin.
Cain says JDS is the best striker in the division, JDS says Roy is tougher than he though and he knew Roy tough going into their fight.
As for the ground game, Nelson’s no slouch on the ground with good wrestling skills and earned his black belt in BJJ from none other than Renzo Gracie. Roy easily beat Frank Mir in a grappling match and while we all know Frank lost badly to Brock on the ground once he also submitted Brock on the ground once too.
Roy vs Brock is great matchup. A short fight could go either way, Brock could win by an overpowering initial ruch or even a lucky haymaker ala the Couture fight. Roy could win with a quick submission or KO/KTO. The longer the fight goes the better Roy’s chances get.
I don’t agree that Junior Dos Santos is the best striker in the heavyweight division. I have seen him drop his hands time, and time again when he throws that uppercut he dropped Yvel and Werdum with-time that shit out, and he’s going to sleep early. If you don’t believe that could or would happen, remember that Chuck Liddell was considered one of the most dangerous strikers, then- failed uppercut to Quinton Jackson and loss of title, failed uppercut to Rashad Evans and brutal KO. You drop your hands like Liddell did, or Dos Santos does, and someone with the right technique, ability, power, timing, or crazy striking, and Dos Santos is taking a nap. I will admit, I am a fan of Velasquez, and I am partially arguing this because I truly want Velasquez to win again and stay champion, but if you look at it close enough, it is very possible that Dos Santos’s striking isn’t quite as good as everyone makes it out to be. Go Mexico!!