Roy Nelson News

Cole Shelton - October 25, 2019

Frank Mir and Roy Nelson are looking to snap their respective losing streaks in the main event of Bellator 231. Tonight’s event headliner will serve as a rematch, as Mir and Nelson first collided in 2011, with the former UFC champion emerging victorious. Since their fight in the UFC, both fighters have had mixed results, especially as of late.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

Frank Mir is scheduled to fight his friend Roy Nelson in a rematch this October in Bellator, and he admits that fans may not find the fight to be entertaining. The former UFC heavyweight champion Mir previously fought Nelson at UFC 130 in 2011, and he now rematches his fellow Las Vegas native in the main event of Bellator 231 this October. Mir says that stylistically this isn’t going to be a fight that excites fans, and he didn’t want Bellator to book this fight.

Adam D Martin - August 25, 2019

Bellator has announced a welterweight title bout between Rory MacDonald and Douglas Lima as well as a heavyweight fight between Roy Nelson and Frank Mir. The promotion announced both fights during the broadcast for Bellator 225 on Saturday night. Bellator 231 takes place Friday, October 25 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Nelson vs. Mir fight will headline that card and is scheduled for three rounds. This is a rematch from the pair’s first fight back in 2011, which Mir won via unanimous decision at UFC 130.

Chris Taylor - February 16, 2019

A heavyweight rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson co-headlined tonight’s Bellator 216 event in Uncasville, Connecticut. Cro Cop and Nelson had first met at UFC 137 in October of 2011, with “Big Country” emerging victorious by way of third-round TKO.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

This Saturday, at Bellator 216, Roy Nelson and Mirk Cro Cop will collide for a second time. This time around, Nelson expects Cro Cop to be a different fight than he was at the time of their first meeting, which occurred at UFC 137 in 2011.

Chris Taylor - February 13, 2019

Mixed martial arts legend Mirko Cro Cop (37-11-2 MMA) will make his Bellator MMA debut on February 16 against fellow veteran and knockout artist Roy Nelson. The bout will serve as a rematch, as Cro Cop and Nelson first met back at UFC 137 in October of 2011, with “Big Country” emerging victorious by way of TKO in round three.

Christopher Taylor - December 5, 2018

Mixed martial arts legend Mirko Cro Cop will make make his Bellator debut on February 16 in Uncasville, Connecticut against Roy Nelson. This according to ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, who recently shared the report on social media.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

Earlier this week, news surfaced that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic had sustained a litany of leg-related injuries in training, and forced out of his Bellator 200 headlining rematch with Roy Nelson as a result. Amid the immediate fallout of Cro Cop’s unfortunate injury, Bellator hoped to find a last-minute replacement opponent for Nelson. This per BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor.

Drake Riggs - March 12, 2018

The fight may be over, but the war of words appears to be far from it. As the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix continues on, it does so without Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson as he was defeated by Matt Mitrione at Bellator 194 in their rematch of a 2012 UFC bout. But the result didn’t come without some controversy.

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2018

Earlier this week, it was announced that former UFC heavyweights Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Roy Nelson will collide at Bellator 200 this May 25. The bout will be a rematch of a 2011 fight, which Nelson won via third-round TKO. Ahead of this fight, Nelson has mentioned Cro Cop’s previous brush with the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and wonders if the MMA legend might still be using “special supplements” – though he doesn’t really care one way or the other.

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

“We knew that if I got put in the crucifix, I was going to do this one move. Which I did. So if you go into the video and watch the video that’s on the internet or on YouTube, if you go into a minute and fifty four seconds left in the third round, you’re going to see me do a move that I do where I bring my left heel across his right calf, I squeeze my knees together, and if I bridged or twist my hips hard enough it actually becomes a sweep and I end up on top and Roy [Nelson] loses his position. Well when I reached my leg across I didn’t squeez my knees hard enough. But it was enough for Roy to kind of feel he was going to lose his balance if I did it again.

Justin Golightly - February 16, 2018

Tonight, former UFC fighter will step into the Bellator cage and fight a former UFC opponent in Roy Nelson. It’s the second bout in an exciting year-long world grand prix that will end up crowning the new Bellator heavyweight champion. The winner of the fight will have to get through potential opponents like King Mo, Fedor Emelianenko, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and current Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. Still, after such a grueling gauntlet of battles, Mitrione is humble enough to admit that even if he wins, he’s still a step below current UFC heavyweight king Stipe Miocic. “No, I do not [think winning the Bellator world grand prix makes me the top heavyweight]. Stipe [Miocic] is the No. 1 guy in the world. I don’t think anybody can argue that at all. I think it would be really dope to have the chance to compete against him. If the Ali Act ever got passed, I think that would be really dope and I think it would be great for the fans. Then I find out, ‘Are you really that good or not?’”

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

The grand prix is the pinnacle of combat sport. It is the most difficult tournament format and has the potential to produce absolutely chaotic results. That chaos is why that, for the most part other than Japan’s RIZIN, the creation of an MMA grand prix is few and far between. However, there is a man who has never strayed from that chaos, but welcomes it to put on exciting fights throughout the years. That man is Scott Coker and he is at it again. Bellator will put on a heavyweight grand prix to crown its first heavyweight champion in four years. “This is going to be something that’s iconic for us. Tournaments, traditionally, are kind of the way martial arts contests happen. Now we get to put eight iconic brand names in our sport together over a year, and then whoever wins will be crowned the heavyweight champion. I think there are certain fights that people want to see. Believe me, we’re going to have some amazing match-ups in this tournament. These fights that we’re going to put together are something that the fans want to see. These are iconic names, big brands.” — Scott Coker speaking to MMA Junkie. 

Chris Taylor - September 23, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight standout Roy Nelson made his Bellator debut tonight against Javy Ayala on the main card of Bellator 183. Round one begins and Ayala lands a high kick early. Nelson is staying patient and looking for an opening to land his big overhand right. Ayala is very active early on here. Nelson shoots in and scores a big takedown against the fence. Roy is working from half guard now. Nelson transitions to full mount and begins landing some shots. Ayala scrambles and is able to get back to his feet. Ayala lands some big knees and punches to close out an entertaining opening round.

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2017

The latest in the long procession of former UFC fighters to make the jump to Bellator MMA is The Ultimate Fighter season 10 winner and long-time heavyweight contender Roy Nelson. News of Nelson’s move to Bellator was first reported by Ariel Helwani in late May, though the details of his debut remained hazy at that time. Now, that has changed. Over the weekend, the details of the hard-hitting heavyweight’s debut were announced by the promotion. He will make his debut in the Bellator cage at Bellator 183, which is scheduled for September 23 in San Jose, California. His opponent will be Javy Ayala.

Russell Ess - May 26, 2017

Bellator MMA has acquired another big name from the UFC roster. Roy Nelson, Season 10 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator, according to a report released on Friday by Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting. Bellator has yet to make the official announcement of Nelson’s signing but is expected to do so in the next few days.

bjpenndotcom - December 2, 2016

Back in September, UFC heavyweight veterans Roy Nelson and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva stepped into the Octagon at ‘UFC Fight Night: Sao Paulo’ in a highly anticipated heavyweight showdown. Nelson ultimately picked up a second round KO win over Silva, however it was the actions which occurred after the KO which resulted in the fight making headlines. After Silva was out cold on the canvas, Nelson believed that referee Big John McCarthy was slow on stopping the fight, and allowed Silva to take unnecessary blows after being KOd. Nelson promptly gave McCarthy the finger before then delivering a swift kick to McCarthy’s rear end while he was tending to Silva.

Russell Ess - November 16, 2016

UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson likely regrets letting his emotions get the best of him. “Big County” has been suspended for nine months by the Brazilian Superior Justice Court of MMA (STJDMMA) for assault and unethical behavior, according to a report from MMA Fighting. In addition to the suspension, Nelson was also fined $24,000 and the suspension is retroactive to September 29.