Nelson and Werdum both recently opened up about tonight’s fight where it was clear each was eyeing UFC gold in 2012.

“I’m happy to be back in the UFC. I’m ready to prove my value and to show all the work I have been doing the last couple months. I think I deserved to return after a few fights in Strikeforce. For sure Roy Nelson is dangerous and a very tough fight. It is important for me to make (an impression) in my first fight back in the Octagon,” explained Werdum before making his true intentions known.

“I want the UFC title. I want a rematch with Junior dos Santos after he beats Alistair Overeem.”

An out-of-shape and perhaps overconfident Werdum was knocked out by Dos Santos in the Brazilian champ’s 2008 debut. Dos Santos is expected to face Overeem this summer though no specific date/location has been set.

As far as Nelson, who also lost to “Cigano” but in far less devastating fashion, he also believes a win over someone with Werdum’s credentials will likely put him within one more victory of an opportunity to win the belt.

“Beating Werdum will change the landscape of the division for me,” said Nelson. “From a ranking perspective, I think this win would take me to #3 or #4. I am here to win the world title, that’s my goal. Even when I lost to Junior, I didn’t slip down (the rankings) too much and I got a lot of fans for that fight. I’m the guy in the division who is having fun fights and I’m hoping to have another (tonight).”

Preliminary pairings for UFC 143 fire up at 7:00 PM EST on Facebook/FX with PPV action beginning at 10:00 PM EST.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Werdum won three of his last four as a member of Strikeforce, including a stunning submission victory over Fedor Emelianenko. Werdum (14-5-1) competed in the UFC before, winning two fights before falling to current UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos.

Nelson, a winner of The Ultimate Fighter, got himself back on track after losses to dos Santos and Frank Mir by defeating Mirko Filipovic via third round TKO earlier this year.

News of the bout was first reported MMAWeekly.

UFC 143 will be headlined by an interim UFC welterweight championship match between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE/UFC

“In this fight, I’m coming off two losses,” Nelson began in an interview with the UFC’s website while making it clear thoughts of a run at the championship would be premature. “The first fight I lost I was fighting for a shot at the world title and the second fight I was fighting against a guy who has already had the title twice. For me, losing to those guys and now coming out here, it’s basically that I need to get back into the win column. I don’t care if it is the ugliest fight in the world, I just need to get the W. Once you get the W in the win column then you can start making your way back to the title. But first you need to get that W because you can’t climb up the ladder while you’re losing.”

Such statements might cause some fans to believe the 15-6 Nelson, who has lost four of his last six fights and has a pedestrian 2-2 mark inside the Octagon, will earn his victory over “Cro Cop” by putting the crowd to sleep rather than the Croatian. However, according to “Big Country”, it simply means he plans to be cautious rather than rush into any situations.

“I think Mirko is going to stay on the outside and pick his shots with his left hand and look for his kicks,” Nelson explained of Filipovic’s likely strategy. “That’s what ‘Cro Cop’ is really good at. He sucks you into a lullaby and you put your guard down and then BAM that’s where the kick or punch is. For me, I have to be patient and look for my shots or look for the takedowns. I have to punch him in the face, but I have to be patient. Mirko is a patient man and he waits for that one mistake and he capitalizes on it.”

Further dismissing the notion the accomplished BJJer will opt to plod his way to a decision win, Nelson added, “It’s not a pure classic ‘grappler vs. striker’ (match-up) because this grappler is willing to bang with you,” a point supported by the fact he actually has more TKOs than submissions in his career – eight compared to five – and a pair of highlight reel knockouts in the UFC over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve.

Nelson vs. Filipovic can be caught as part of the PPV portion of UFC 137 this Saturday night starting at 9:00 PM EST. Other featured fights include Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione and headlining action from decorated welterweights B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

For his upcoming fight, “Big Country” enlisted the help of his last opponent and close friend, Frank Mir, to prepare him. Mir, a former UFC heavyweight champ, defeated “CroCop” back in 2010, so he knows a thing or two about fighting the Croatian. Nelson and Filipovic will meet at UFC 137 on October 29.

“This one actually just fell in place. He was a southie, (like) ‘CroCop’, and me being a good jiu-jitsu guy, like (Antonio Rodrigo) Nogueira, so it was just a perfect fit,” said Nelson, in a recent interview with NBCSports. “There’s nothing strange about it. I think everybody in MMA, paths always cross, especially if you’ve been in this sport as long as we both have.”

Nelson feels like his weight is not an issue, saying, “Everybody always talks about my weight, but that’s throughout my whole entire life. It’s nothing new. I’m sure everybody is going to talk about my weight next week, and then after my fight, and them my weight after that. It’s just because people are mean.”

It would be safe to assume “Big Country” hasn’t lost his sense of humor either, another thing White wasn’t too pleased with after Nelson’s loss to Mir. Still, don’t expect him to change any time soon.

“To me, I look in the mirror every day, my wife things I’m beautiful, so I’m going to say probably not (look different),” Nelson said. “I hope I just perform better. Looks are in the eye of the beholder.”

Nelson has lost his previous two fights, to Mir and Junior dos Santos, dropping his record to 15-6. “CroCop” is also on a two-fight losing skid, having fallen to Mir and Brendan Schaub. He is 27-9-2 overall.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Mir, meanwhile, will face Nogueira in December at UFC 140 in Toronto.

News of the potential match-up and attached event were first reported by BetUS.

Mir (14-5) is coming off a late knockout of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic after landing a flush knee against the striking legend last September at UFC 119. He is 5-2 since 2007 with wins over Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, and Cheick Kongo in the bunch as well as defeats to Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

Comparably, his rotund rival has gone 1-1 since walking away with the title of Ultimate Fighter Season 10 champ as a result of his first-round flooring of Brendan Schaub in December 2009. The 15-5 Nelson followed the win up with a thirty-nine second knockout of Stefan Struve but was outpointed by top title-contender Junior Dos Santos in his follow-up performance this past August. He had originally been linked to a bout with Carwin at UFC 125 but the match-up fell apart due to Carwin being injured.

News of the decision came via Carwin’s website where he elaborated on the situation, as well as why he felt it was in his best interest to get healthy before re-entering the ring.

“As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action.

I was really looking forward to fighting again and obviously this is a very disappointing turn of events. My manager said “You can’t fight the best fighters in the world with just heart, it is time to stop limping to the top of the mountain and get healthy so you can climb it on your terms.” I have been up all night thinking about this decision and what I may be missing by making it.

In the end my family and manager are right. I owe myself, I owe my fans the best show I can give them. I need to get healthy. I am going to be speaking with the surgeon this week about the surgery. My thoughts are if the surgery fixes it why add 8-12 weeks of physical therapy, epidurals and traction if surgery may still be needed.

The good news is the doctors said I can work on my cardio (they must have seen my last fight lol) with this injury.”

Carwin started off his career with twelve straight first-round finishes and nearly defeated then-UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 116 last July before falling victim to exhaustion and a subsequent second-round submission.

As stated earlier, the opening created by Carwin’s departure from the January 1st, 2011 event leaves Nelson without a foe to face at UFC 125 though it seems likely a replacement will be named in the coming weeks. “Big Country” is coming off a decision-loss to top heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos in August at UFC 117 after putting together back-to-back TKO wins over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve.

Lightweight champ Frank Edgar will defend his strap against the only individual to beat him, Gray Maynard, in the evening’s main event. Edgar lost a unanimous decision to Maynard in April 2008 before going on to win six straight bouts including two consecutive wins over former title-holder BJ Penn. Comparably, Maynard has won five fights in a row over a list of opponents featuring Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta, and most recently Ken Florian.

Also scheduled to see action on January 1st, 2011 in Las Vegas, Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson will settle their personal differences in the cage and help sort out the heavyweight contendership picture in the process. “Big Country” recently poked fun at Carwin’s alleged involvement in a steroid distribution ring with Carwin responding by taking verbal jabs at Nelson’s physique.

In addition to Edgar vs. Maynard II and Nelson vs. Carwin, the other “UFC 125 – Resolution” match-ups confirmed by the company are as follows:

Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi
Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera
Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann

Roy and Brendan threw down for the crown during “The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale” that took place from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las vegas.

Nelson scored a takedown early on but to the surprise of many Schaub managed to get back to his feet in no time where the Colorado native began to pull away with sharp jabs and crisp striking, just before “Big Country” leveled the playing field and Schaub all at once with a massive right hand that left Schaub in a heap and Roy with the title of TUF 10 Champion.

Nelson bested fellow heavyweights Kimbo Slice, Justin Wren, and James McSweeney, along with Schaub to be crowned the tournament champion.

But isn’t that the whole point. Hasn’t Lyoto Machida been praised in the past by Dana for the exact same thing? Of course Machida didn’t just embarrass one of the biggest cash cows in the business either.

Either way, credit should be given where credit is do. Nelson was in a couple of bad situations during the fight and used his experience in the sport to take the fight where he needed to, making his comments to FiveOuncesOfPain.com just before the airing of last evening’s bout make a lot more sense.

I’ve always made it a habit to use my opponents weaknesses against them, but in a format like this, you have to be a little more cautious abut what you do. Instead of throwing the whole kitchen sink, you may have to say, “Ehhhh, here’s just a little water”. Because the thing is that there’s been times that I’ve left it all out there and wound up breaking my hands, and that’s one thing on your mind; you don’t want to break your hands. You just play the safe mode, to just get the W.

My biggest thing with this fight was to take no damage, end the fight as fast as possible, and win. That was my gameplan going into the house regarding any of the bouts I may have ended up in. It didn’t matter if I punched the guy, or took him down. Whatever you had to do to get the W. It didn’t matter if it was the ugliest win on the show. As long as you got that win, that’s all that mattered. At the same time, you want to leave the bout with no injuries, and you just have to get it done. It’s not like a real fight. It’s not like you’re fighting for a payday. You just have to get it done, and then move on to the next fight.

Upon closer inspection of Wednesday night’s widely viewed episode of The Ultimate Fighter, one would have to try hard not to notice Roy discussing the exact same position he finished the fight with with other house members.

A master technician in the sport, Nelson revealed his extremely intelligent and calculated side when he discussed how counting the punches out loud would force the referee to stop the fight. When Roy’s team members did this in the bout, Herb Dean had no choice but to call a halt to the contest.

I’d relate this to Babe Ruth calling his shot in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. The only difference in Nelson’s case was that he called his shot the night before, and “The Bambino” wasn’t fighting a grizzly looking 230 pound power puncher by the name of Kimbo Slice.

I have already had to delete a couple of new users due to over the top fighter bashing in the direction of “Big Country”? I mean over the top, like Sylvester Stallone “Over the Top”. Some people are acting like Roy held them down in a crucifix position and battered their faces until Herb Dean was forced to shout out, “That’s it!”.

And why? It can’t just be because Nelson is a self described fat guy. Or even because he openly admitted to being really hungry after the fight. Perhaps it’s because he didn’t choose to “stand and bang” with Kimbo.

Seriously? Did anyone that follows the sport of mixed martial arts closely think for one second that Nelson was going to make a slugfest out of it for the fans at home? This isn’t about the fans at home for the guys in that house. It’s about what’s best for them and their families. It’s abut getting that win and being able to go on to that next fight. That’s the bottom line.

How many fighters that lost their first round bouts in The Ultimate Fighter do you remember off the top of your head?

Exactly.

The moral of the story is that the whole point of being at the house is to win and earn the six-figure contract with the UFC. There’s no guarantees for the guy in second place, and there are certainly no guarantees for a guy like Roy Nelson, who’s already had as rough a time as anyone getting himself into the Octagon.

On the other side of that coin, if it wasn’t already staring you right in the face, the fact that there is an obvious double standard when it comes to Kimbo is impossible to ignore at this point, being that he was pretty much completely dominated in his first fight on the house, yet recently spilled the beans in regards to a bout in December he was currently preparing for.

And if you think for one second that the UFC President truly believes that Kimbo will have some type of miraculous turn around in his skill level from his time spent on the show, then you are being trolled by Dana White at the highest level.

It’s all about how you spin it baby! Take notes from the master, Making Money In The Sport 101.

Kimbo makes sense for business, and at it’s deepest level, he makes sense for the MMA as a whole considering the attention captured by his mystical beard can do nothing but expose this great sport to more and more people.

In less than a years time Kimbo will be on is way out. A rich man, but on his way out never the less. History will look back on Kimbo as modern MMA’s answer to Tank Abbott. Great for ratings, but a terrible representation of the sport as a whole.

Of course it makes sense to put Kimbo in there with a guy like Roy Nelson. Slice loses to the former IFL heavyweight champion and you can always pull the “He was outmatched, but he has a lot of room to grow” card. Quite frankly, that fight ends the exact same way with 90% of the other guys in that house.

Kimbo made it quite clear that he hasn’t taken anything seriously in regards to his training in the sport up until this point. Now all of a sudden he just has this new fire under his butt to become a walking, breathing sponge to everything MMA? It’s not happening.

The fact that Slice hasn’t bothered to even attempt to evolve in the sport that has earned him an enormous amount of money tells me all I need to know about Kimbo’s character. He’ll never have the dedication and determination it will take for him to beat anyone better than James “Colossus” Thompson.

Instead of worrying about how to improve his skills and escape armbars in the future, Kimbo’s too busy pulling out his strap in the gym and waving it around like a cowboy at the OK Saloon.

Outside of his non-existent ground game, Kimbo is quite obviously in the wrong weight class. While not fat by any stretch of the imagination, I still feel like a cut down to 205 pounds would be possible for Slice, who currently walks around near the 230 pound mark.

If he doesn’t cut the weight he’ll stand very little chance against the new breed of big men currently invading the UFC heavyweight ranks.

Just think of the possibilities awaiting Kimbo at light-heavyweight.

Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander in December anyone?

As Nelson sat outside with a few of the other fighters on the night before his big fight he discussed the crucifix position. Roy seemed to be focusing on the position because it was obvious that it was the one position where he would take the least amount of damage, even going as far as explaining that the punches you hit your opponent don’t have to be the hardest shots in the world. The ruling goes, if you’re not able to intelligently defend yourself, it’s a wrap.

Following an extended feeling out process in the early moments of the opening round, Nelson shot in on Kimbo, and caught a couple of hard punches in the process. On the heavy handed slugger like a leech against the cage, Roy wound up scoring the takedown with 1:30 remaining in round. From there it was a fluid succession of: mount, side control, and eventually, you guessed it, the crucifix position. Quite possibly the safest position in all of mixed martial arts. For a solid 15-20 seconds Nelson tapped away at the face of Kimbo with a series of punches, and while they weren’t the hardest shots, referee Herb Dean was just a second or two from stopping the bout as the first round came to an end.

Kimbo starts round two swinging for the fences, catching Nelson a with a couple of solid bombs before being tied up by the much larger and more experienced veteran of the cage, and slammed to the Octagon canvas. It was just a replay of the first round once they hit the ground. Roy goes right into side control, and it’s not long before he’s right back in the crucifix position, delivering unanswered damage to the grill of Kimbo Slice once again. Herb Dean continuously warns Kimbo to improve his position, but it’s pointless. The fight is stopped, winner, Roy “Big Country” Nelson.

Staying true to his plus-sized form and light-hearted nature, Nelson immediately joked, “Can I get a Double Whopper with cheese?” following the bout. A fat guy’s version of the traditional “I’m going to Disneyland” celebration.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, or have had the unfortunate luck of being stranded on a deserted island without cable television, the most highly anticipated episode in the history off The Ultimate Fighter will be airing tonight at its usual place and time on Spike TV.

There’s going to be a gentleman competing on the show by the name of Roy “Big Country” Nelson. He’s a self described “fat guy”. A fat guy with a track record for being one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the sport. Now, this fellow that goes by the alias “Big Country” is set to face off with a well muscled former street fighter with a massive Grizzly Adams beard that is most commonly known as Kimbo Slice on this evening’s broadcast.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently had the opportunity to catch up with Nelson on the eve of what will undoubtedly be the most important and widely viewed battle in the history of his career, and quite possibly the sport as a whole. A fight that fought under different circumstances could very well have been the biggest payday either fighter had ever seen.

“When I was in the IFL and he was with EliteXC, I really wanted to fight him because it would have been a big payday,” explained Nelson. “He made about $500,000 in his last fight, so if we would have fought I probably could have made $150,000 – $200,000. So it would have been a great payday, as opposed to now, where we’re basically fighting for free.”

There’s no reason to dwell over the money you could have made, and no time for it in a house filled with predators with intentions of making you the prey. Roy showed up to fight, and as far as he was concerned, the sooner he got his feet wet the better.

“While you’re in that house you get so built up with frustration because of the lack of any type of release,” said the 33 year old Las Vegas resident. “You go into that house knowing that you’re going to fight so I think it’s better just to pop your cherry as soon as possible so that you can relax. I go into that house knowing that I may have three fights in five weeks, so I want to spread those fights out evenly over that time period because you don’t want to start having fights that are just back to back.”

Of course there have been many fighters over the last year or two that have extremely vocal in their criticism of Kimbo and his meteoric rise to fame after becoming famous for beating up hooligans on the Internets, but what may came as a surprise to some, Nelson shared none of that resentment.

However, if Roy WAS the type of guy that gets frustrated about certain fighters not putting their time into the sport, there would be a different target for his animosity. A guy that “Big Country” would personally love to pull the horseshoe out of his a** and beat him over the head with it, as he would explain, “If that was the case I should really be mad at Brock Lesnar.

“If we’re talking about paying dues; that’s the guy that has never paid a due in his life. Just based on the amount of fights he had before getting his title shot. But it’s not about that. It’s all about putting butts in the seats. Everybody doesn’t know that, but that’s really what it is. It’s about making new fans and keeping the fans happy. The one thing that Brock and Kimbo have is a lot of fans. Brock brought the professional wrestling fans, and Kimbo brought the Internet fans.”

Anyone that was paying close attention to the first episode of TUF 10 would have seen a few brief clips of Nelson and Kimbo in a sparring session during the tryout phase for Team Rampage. If you paid even closer attention to the segment one would further notice that, although just a sparring session, Slice appeared to be getting the better of the much more experienced veteran of the fight game.

So was their time spent training together accurately portrayed on the show? According to Nelson, you can chalk another one up to camera trickery in that one.

“I was actually dominating the sparring session beforehand because every time I moved away I was hitting him,” revealed Nelson. “So it was just a little bit of that…. movie magic. Kimbo wasn’t going 100%, and you can land a jab on Kimbo all day when he’s not going 100%. That’s when everyone was like, “Oh, I wanna fight him! I wanna fight him!”, because they all sparred him. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Can’t you see he’s sandbagging?’

“When I was sparring with Kimbo I thought he was sandbagging for sure, and then come to find out…. that’s what he was doing. He was just sandbagging.”

Being that this will be viewed on such a wide scale, one could assume that both guys will be coming out trying to murderize one another, but you have to remember that this is basically a tournament format. An extended sixteen man heavyweight kumite where preservation of your health and ability to continue on to your next fight is almost as important as the victory itself.

“I’ve always made it a habit to use my opponents weaknesses against them, but in a format like this, you have to be a little more cautious abut what you do,” explained the former IFL heavyweight champion. “Instead of throwing the whole kitchen sink you may have to say, “Ehhhh, here’s just a little water”. Because the thing is that there’s been times that I’ve left it all out there and wound up breaking my hands, and that’s one thing on your mind; you don’t want to break your hands. You just play the safe mode, to just get the W.”

“My biggest thing with this fight was to take no damage, end the fight as fast as possible, and win. That was my gameplan going into the house regarding any of the bouts I may have ended up in. It didn’t matter if I punched the guy, or took him down. Whatever you had to do to get the W. It didn’t matter if it was the ugliest win on the show. As long as you got that win, that’s all that mattered. At the same time, you want to leave the bout with no injuries, and you just have to get it done. It’s not like a real fight. It’s not like you’re fighting for a payday. You just have to get it done, and then move on to the next fight.”

Make sure to tune it tonight, and don’t forget to keep supporting the fat guy.

“I just want to thank all of the fans out there,” said Nelson. “I really appreciate the support. Keep supporting the fat guy! Of course I want to thank TapouT, because I’m bad for the sport! Just based on my appearance, I’m going to change the look of the UFC! I also want to thank superaction.com.

Roy “Big Country” Nelson

The highly anticipated match-up will be airing next Wednesday at it’s normal place and time on Spike TV.

The announcement came on the heels of James McSweeney of Team Rashad’s majority decision victory over Wes Shivers during last nights episode.

The win for Team Rashad placed the ball in their court when it came choosing time for the next match-up.

And so it shall be Big Country vs. Kimbo next week. A showdown between a Youtube sensation and a battle tested veteran of the game.

Make sure to tune in nexty week to what promises to be the highest rated episode in the show’s history.

At 6′ and 250 lbs, Nelson does not always appear to be in peak physical condition. However, Nelson has a 13-4 record and was the IFL heavyweight champion when the promotion folded.

His inclusion on TUF may have surprised some but not White. He said that he never made any negative statements about Nelson.

“That’s not true,” White said. “That was never a thing – ‘Roy, you’re too fat. You can’t fight in the UFC.’ That’s not true.”

As one of the favorites to win the upcoming season, Nelson now has a chance to make a big impact in the UFC, and by adding Nelson to the show, White makes it almost impossible not to believe his side of the story.

In an attempt to pull the ripcord on their financial free fall, EliteXC made a deal with the sponsorship-devil and allowed Affliction to again promote their clothing as well as their fighters under the Elite XC banner. Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson is the first attempt at a joint product, as both fighters are under the Affliction promotional contract. This adds hardcore credibility to a show that was stacked heavily towards mainstream attractiveness.

Andrei Arlovski is a former Police officer from Belarus and a 2 time World Russian Sambo Champion. Sambo is a Russian self defense system similar to Judo, and Arlovski excelled in it. He used his success in Sambo to launch a professional MMA career. It was not a stellar success right out of the gate with a knockout loss to Viacheslav Datsik. But with good old-fashioned Russian persistence, he won the heavyweight tournament in M1 with two wins in the same night. That was enough for the UFC, and they signed the 20 year old to fight in America. Arlovski started strong in the UFC with a 4-2 mark and his impressive skills and intimidating physical appearance built him a dedicated fan base.

They say one person’s misfortune is another person’s gain, and case in point is Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski. Frank Mir was the reigning Heavyweight Champion in the UFC when tragedy struck in the form of a motor bike accident that almost cost Mir his leg. As a result of his serious injuries, the UFC had to create an Interim Heavyweight title. Arlovski found himself up against Tim Sylvia for the title. One quick leg lock submission later and Arlovski was the new heavyweight Champion. He defended two more times in the next year and when it was decided that Mir would not make it back from his injuries Arlovski was made undisputed heavyweight champion. He then re-matched and lost his title back to Tim Sylvia. The grudge match was a 5 round affair where Arlovski lost an uninspired decision to Sylvia. Shortly after Andrei started to enter contract extension talks with the UFC and as a result was shelved in a move to “change’ the Belarusian’s mind about his demands. When it was obvious that Arlovski was not going to be a UFC fighter anymore, they allowed him to fight his contract out and sign with Affliction. In the first fight on his deal he looked re-invigorated in a third round TKO of top-ten ranked Ben Rothwell.

Arlovski is a supremely gifted athlete with a phenomenal work ethic to go along with it. This is the picture of a top tier athlete fulfilling his potential, and it is a beautiful thing to watch. Arlovski’s standup is second to none in the heavyweight division, as he is being trained by the preeminent boxing coach in the US in Freddie Roach. Arlovski has pro level boxing skills, with footwork and head movement better than most professional boxers at his weight. Arlovski is more than just boxing skills though as his kicks and knees are all explosive with perfect technique. As with most Sambo experts, he is an above average grappler with fantastic leg locks and a full arsenal of submissions. Arlovski’s own worst enemy is himself, as his tendancy to push for the exciting finish or the big knockout will sometimes get himself into positions that will cost him a fight. If Arlovski is smart and plays to his strengths against an opponent, he is one of the toughest heavyweights in the world to beat.

Roy Nelson is one of the best submission grapplers in the Heavyweight division that no one knows about. He is a blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has won several North American titles in grappling. As a Las Vegas native he has helped train some of the best fighters in the world. Nelson saw sparring and training with other fighters as more of a job than one fighter helping out another, and decided to make himself some money instead of making other fighters better. Nelson kicked off his professional fighting career with a six fight win streak, four of which were by submission. Nelson’s stand up continually improved by working with well-known boxing coach Skipper Kelp through most of his career. He lost a close split decision to top-ten ranked Ben Rothwell in the IFL, but in that loss showed everyone that he was a force at heavyweight and someone to watch out for in the future. He went on to win 5 fights in a row in the IFL, including the IFL world heavyweight championship belt. Now that the IFL has closed its doors, Nelson is out to find the respect one can get from defeating a top ten opponent. Arlovski may be his road to legitimacy.

Nelson is a world class submission grappler with speed and agility that belie his size. He does not have many peers on the floor in the heavyweight division. During his stay in the IFL he has also developed quite the ground and pound skills. He can pack an impressive punch from the guard and is more than capable of knocking his opponent out. His stand up has also vastly improved during his IFL stay, as he has shown flashes of knockout power in his punches as well as the skill to outmaneuver and strategically deal with much larger opponents in Rothwell and Brad Imes. The one area most people point to as an area of weakness is his conditioning. Although he looks like he is hiding a medicine ball under his t-shirt, he is quite capable of fighting a full 3 or 5 rounds and winning decisions. He truly is a freak of nature in that respect.

This is an interesting fight in a few different ways. At first glance you would think Arlovski has a big edge in this bout, and by all accounts he does. His stand up is cleaner and crisper, and his ground game is defensive enough to stay out of trouble long enough to get it back to the feet where he holds the decisive edge. Nelson has shown a penchant to surprise when he is considered the underdog, and he is fully capable of doing that here. Arlovski has shown a tendancy to get bored with lesser opponents and loss interest. If he does that against Nelson, he could easily lose this fight. But I cannot see this happening. With the pressure of national television and the rather large payday ahead of him with a win, I think the Arlovski of old comes out and puts a striking clinic on Nelson and either ends it in a third round TKO or a unanimous decision win for Arlovski.

“Big Country” is best known for his unimpressive physique but don’t let his belly fool you. The guy can flat out fight. He’s a renowned grappler and wrestler who also contains huge power in his hands. Scherner’s strategy will be to get him down and work his submission game from the top but it will be hard against someone the size of Nelson. Will Nelson be able to keep it standing and unload his big bombs? Or will Scherner be able to take Nelson down and work his BJJ game from the top? Watch the fight to find out!

Be sure to check out the HDNet Video Vault for more great fights!

MMA News spoke with Xtreme Couture heavyweight Jay White who revealed that he has signed a three-fight contract with Affliction and that he is slated to debut against Nelson.

The report does not specify a debut date for White, but with only one show scheduled for Oct. 11, the potential White vs. Nelson fight would appear to be a lock for the promotion’s Las Vegas event at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Neither Nelson’s camp or Affliction have yet to confirm the report. FiveOuncesOfPain.com had been informed last week that Nelson was under consideration for a bout against Dave Herman during an EliteXC show on Sept. 20 so he is not without multiple suitors bidding on his services.

If Nelson does in fact sign with Affliction, that would mean that three of the IFL’s champions potentially have signed with promotions other than the UFC, which has reportedly acquired select assets from the IFL.

According to a report on Sherdog, IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko will be fighting for Affliction on Oct. 11 while IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz will compete for the Sengoku promotion in Japan on Aug. 24.

If a deal has been reached between the IFL and UFC, it remains to be seen just exactly what they have acquired besides the IFL’s extensive library of fight footage. While the UFC has signed IFL middleweight champion Dan Miller and his brother, Jim Miller, a source revealed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that both were involved in litigation with the IFL over their contract and that their contracts were not transferred to Zuffa as part of an acquisition.

Former IFL prospects Danillo Villefort and L.C. Davis have both signed with Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting while FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently broke the news that Mike Massenzio recently inked a four-fight deal with the UFC. However, Five Ounces of Pain was informed that all three were free agents. Villefort had a one-fight deal that expired following his upset victory over Massenzio while Masseznio and Davis had been released from their IFL contracts.

Additional sources had revealed to Five Ounces of Pain that several fight managers had questions as to whether IFL contracts were transferable to another organization. Regardless, most of the contracts were said to be slated to expire at midnight on Dec. 31.

We were also informed that while the IFL has released most of its contracted talent, it had still yet to release certain fighters. It is believed that IFL welterweight champion Jay Hieron, IFL featherweight champion Wagnney Fabiano, and lightweight sensation Chris Horodecki could all still be under contract. If their contracts cannot be transferred, it is unclear why they have not been released. It’s possible that the UFC is trying to maintain an exclusive period of negotiation with the fighters in an attempt to work out new deals with them.

According to Larkin, formal talks about a Nelson vs. Slice fight have yet to take place but discussions could intensify Monday morning, depending on the outcome of Slice’s heavyweight bout during EliteXC’s debut on CBS this Saturday night.

“If Kimbo wins, we’ll make that match (Nelson vs. Slice) without hesitation,” Larkin said during an exclusive interview with Five Ounces of Pain. “We”ll do in on an IFL card or an Elite card — we don’t care. Promotions working together is the only way for this business to grow.”

Both Larkin and Shaw have worked together for over 20 years and the two were involved with numerous boxing co-promotions while Larkin was the head of SHOWTIME Sports. In fact, both Larkin and Shaw are responsible for the creation one of SHOWTIME’s boxing staples, “ShoBox.”

Nelson recently defeated Brad Imes via TKO in the first round at the IFL’s most recent event in Connecticut on May 16.

Nelson is 13-2 in his MMA career with victories over some of the best heavyweight competition in the IFL, including Fabiano Scherner, Antoine Jaoude, and Bryan Vetell. One of his only losses came against former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell in a fight that some believe Nelson won. He and Slice also have something in common, and that’s a victory over Bo Cantrell.

In addition to Cantrell, Slice also holds a first round knockout over Tank Abbott and finished former boxing champion Ray Mercer in the first round of an MMA exhibition.

Multiple sources have informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com that a proposed match between Haselrig and former IFL heavyweight Bryan Vetell to take place during the undercard of EliteXC’s first-ever CBS telecast on May 31 could be finalized by the close of business on Monday.

Verbal commitments were secured from the camps of both fighters over the weekend and barring a setback, contracts are expected to be signed off on and returned sometime today.

The 42-year old Haselrig recently made his MMA debut when he defeated another former IFL heavyweight, Shane Ott. Haselrig recorded a TKO victory over Ott at 4:09 of round 1 during a Battle Cage Xtreme card held on April 19 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Vetell, who trains out of Renzo Gracie’s Jiu Jitsu Academy, is 4-3 according to Sherdog.com’s fight finder. His most recent bout was on April 11 during YAMMA Pit Fighting’s inaugural card that took place in Atlantic City. Vetell was victorious in the bout, recording a unanimous decision over Antwain Britt in a reserve match for YAMMA’s single night, eight-man heavyweight tournament.

EliteXC officials originally had planned to match Haselrig, a former member of the NFL’s New York Jets, against former New York Giants offensive lineman and current heavyweight prospect Bobby Jones. However, the proposed Jets vs. Giants concept was thrwarted after Jones was unable to accept the fight due to a neck injury. Former Giants fullback Jarrod Bunch was approached as a possible replacement but declined the bout.

The seven-bout undercard will be televised free of charge on ProElite.com. The main portion of EliteXC’s May 31 show will be televised on CBS starting at 9 p.m. ET.

Both Vetell and Ott competed during the IFL World Grand Prix semifinals on Nov. 3 in Chicago.

Vetell lost to Roy Nelson via TKO at 1:01 of round three while Ott passed out against Antoine Jaoude due to a triangle at 3:29 in the first round.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

The IFL put on a first class show last night in the swamps of Dirty Jersey. I don’t know how else to describe it other than by saying it had a big event atmosphere similar to what you would feel at an NBA conference championship playoff series.

Count me among the many who scoffed at the IFL’s team concept when it first came about but the new TV format began changing my perspective several weeks back and last night’s show has made me a believer.

Will the IFL overtake the UFC as the number one promotion in the world anytime soon?

No, of course not. Big main events are what rules the PPV world and that’s where the big money is to be made.

But can the team concept allow the IFL to be a viable number two?

No doubt about it.

The crowd was pretty good. The IFL benefited from having Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls fighting in their backyard as there were a ton of red Pitbulls jerseys in the crowd.

They also put a couple of fighters on the undercard from Tiger Schulman’s Karate and the annoying “T-S-K!” chants were in full effect. While I hate the chants and not a big fan of TSK’s involvement in MMA, it was a good marketing strategy for the IFL.

I really liked the celebrations after when a fight would end by TKO or submission. The teams would celebrate after the fights and I felt it added a lot to the importance of the outcomes. Yes, teams celebrating after matches is nothing new in MMA but sometimes it seems gratuitous in non-team formats (Chute Box, anyone?). In a team format, it seems like a natural reaction.

According to the IFL, the overall attendance was 7,077. The official number will come from the New Jersey control board and I have no idea how much, if any, papering was done.

The arena was sectioned off so that there weren’t any major pockets of empty seats. I think I remember Gareb Shamus or Kurt Otto saying in a conference call that the arena would be cordoned off to accommodate between 6,000-8,000 fans. I really didn’t see many empty seats so you’ve got to hand it to them for a solid turnout on a Thursday night.

It was a hot crowd with the fans reacting to all the major spots in the matches. I’m not a TV executive, but my assumption is that the show will come off very well on TV.

There were some boos but they were primarily directed at the referees for when they felt the fight should be stood up. Overall, a very knowledge and well-behaved crowd. The crowd at the Bodog show appears to be an aberration as far as MMA shows in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia area.

Another thing I noticed was that the fans recognized a lot of the fighters so it appears the IFL is doing a good job of establishing stars in the NJ/NY market. There were a lot of people asking for pictures and autographs. Ben Rothwell appeared to be a very busy guy and seemed real good with the fans. Also, Chris Horodecki got big reactions whenever he was shown on screen.

Also, there was a TON of media in the building. So much so that my assigned seat at ringside was occupied and I got bumped to the media section that’s used for NHL and NBA games. I’m not complaining because I finally got to meet Pramit Mohapatra from the Baltimore Sun and MMAMadness.com as well as Jeff Hamlin from the Wrestling Observer and MMAMadness.com. They are real good guys and you should all check out the re-design at MMAMadness.com.

Based on pure conjecture, I would have to say last night’s show at the Continental Arena was almost as big of a success as their show in Everett, WA. Now, I have no idea how it did from a dollar and cents standpoint and instead merely commenting from a attendance, crowd interest, organizational, and production standpoint.

After watching how well organized last night’s show was I am convinced that those who are predicting that the IFL won’t make it will be proven wrong. If they stick to the current TV format and keep building up the team concept while also learning from their mistakes when it comes to where they hold their live shows, they are going to eventually turn the corner from a business-perspective.

Speaking of organized, props go out to Jerry Milani, the IFL’s PR guru who had a great handle on the media last night.

With more shows like the last six episodes and more events like last night and the one in Everett, Wash., the IFL is only going to grow. If their business is truly stabilized, they can then start looking at ways to move forward. And with a strong product, even if they run out of cash then you’d have to think they will become an attractive buyout candidate.

Now, I can’t let the IFL go completely unscathed. I had a couple of issues.

One, the event was anti-climatic in a lot of ways.

The Silverbacks won the first three matches and clinched a berth in the finals. At that point I felt all the energy leave the building for the final two matches between the Silverbacks and Anacondas. It kind of felt like a baseball team at home going to at-bat in the bottom of the ninth even though they already have the lead.

The energy came back into the building when the hometown Pitbulls made their way to the ring for their match against the Sabers. But the energy was killed again after the Pitbulls clinched with wins in their first three matches.

There’s no obvious solution to the problem and I guess the IFL is a victim of fate in the same way the NFL, NBA, and MLB are. They can’t control the outcome of the matches just like the NFL is helpless if the Super Bowl is a blowout at half-time. But it’s an area where promotions that don’t use a team format have an advantage over the IFL.

Now, if the matches were tied 2-2 heading into the fifth, I probably wouldn’t even be bringing this up.

One thing they could do is take away the coin flip that allows the coaches to choose match lineups. The promotion could try and project outcomes and schedule the matches in an order that could increase chances of a 2-2 tie heading in the fifth match. Yes, it’s hardly an exact science but you have to think that the coaches are trying to set the fight lineups so that they win 3-0 right out of the gate.

Also, I think having individual champs next year will help alleviate some of these issues. For example, last night’s heavyweight bout between Ben Rothwell and Krysztof Soszynski was fifth in the order and was a meaningless match in regard to the team concept. However, if Rothwell was the heavyweight champ and Soszynski had been approved as a contender, it would have been a championship match, thus significant implications would still be at play.

Also, what the hell is going on with the lightweight Grand Prix!? For the past six weeks I swear I’ve heard Kenny Rice say the top four finishers in each division advance to the GP.

Well, why is it that Bart Palaszewski is in and not Shad Lierley? If you follow the correct order of tiebreakers, Lierley should be in based on the fact that his total match time this year is less than Palaszewski’s.

But the bigger issue is that when the matchups were originally announced last week Palaszewski was supposed to be fighting Chris Horodecki and John Gunderson was supposed to be fighting Wagnney Fabiano.

Then, last night they showed a graphic on the big screen with the matchups for the GP and Horodecki and Palaszewski are no longer scheduled to meet in the first round.

Was it a misprint or is the IFL trying to save a rematch between Horodecki vs. Palaszewski for the finals on 12/29?

I’m not the only one who thinks something is up because I went to the bathroom on my way out I heard fighters that shall remain nameless making a big deal about it with one labeling it “an IFL conspiracy.” He didn’t appear to be in a kidding mood, either.

Look, the IFL is a young league so I can understand that they want to make matchups that draw an optimum amount of interest. That’s cool, just be up front about it. Instead of saying the top four finishers get in, say that the top three qualify and that the fourth spot in each GP will be an at-large bid voted on by an IFL-approved selection committee.

Would at-large bids create a lot of politics? Yes, it would, but the NCAA has built a cottage industry around its selection process for its college basketball tournament.

The at-large process makes perfect sense for ’08 but what about now? Well, level with the fans and explain why the parameters previously given as the criteria for qualifying for the GP have been ignored and why the seeding of the lightweights has been changed. A fan who has invested time into the concept deserves an explanation.

I guess the silver lining is that I’m complaining about the politics in the IFL the same way I would with the NBA, NFL, or MLB. Hey, this team concept seems to be catching on…

Now, onto the matches…

Light Heavyweight – Mike Ciesnolevic (Silverbacks) defeated Alex Schoenauer (Anacondas) via split decision in a match that was very slow paced. I expected a lot more out of these two.

Welterweight - Rory Markham (Silverbacks) recorded a TKO over Chris Clements (Anacondas) at 1:17 of round one. Clements threw some decent kicks but Markham’s hands were too heavy. I was really surprised with Markham’s accuracy. You could hear a few thuds with his punches. Impressive showing.

Lightweight - Bart Palaszewski (Silverbacks) submitted Harris Sarmiento (Anacondas) with a guillotine at 1:06 of round three. Palaszewski hit takedowns in rounds one and three and showed decent standup skills, as usual.

Middleweight – Benji Radach (Anacondas) defeated Gerald Harris (Silverbacks) via TKO at 3:03 of round one. The fight was stopped after Harris couldn’t continue after getting hit with a legal, but inadvertent knee from Radach. Harris went in for the takedown and when Radach’s legs went up in the air, Harris got hit.

Heavyweight - Ben Rothwell (Silverbacks) TKO’d Krzysztof Soszynski (Anacondas) at 0:13 of round one. Rothwell looked to be in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in. Both fighters came out swinging but Soszynski couldn’t eat Rothwell’s shots. If you don’t believe that Rothwell is a top 10 heavyweight in the world right now, you need to wake up.

Silverbacks win 4-1.

Middleweight – Dan Miller (Pitbulls) caught Dave Phillips (Sabers) in a standing guillotine and submitted Phillips at 1:30 of round one. I don’t believe Phillips tapped. I think he passed out and the ref stopped it.

Heavyweight – Bryan Vetell (Pitbulls) hit a ton of knees and just wrecked Wayne Cole’s (Anacondas) lower body and earned a unanimous decision. Cole showed poor technique in that when Vetell would clinch him up, he really didn’t do anything to break the clinch and he didn’t try to bring Vetell closer in order to limit the extension for the knee strikes. He kept Vetell and at an optimum distance and Vetell tore him up. Cole had a lot of trouble moving in the third. The match got interesting at the end when Cole achieved top position following a sloppy takedown attempt by Vetell. Cole was throwing some strikes from the ground as the final bell sounded.

Lightweight – Devidias Taurosevicius (Pitbulls) upset Savant Young (Sabers) by earning a unanimous decision victory. This match earned FiveOuncesOfPain.com’s “Match of the Night” honors. I didn’t have any cash on me but I went backstage in an attempt to award them an entire case of nothing but I couldn’t find either fighter. Taurosevicius’ win sent the Pitbulls to the finals and they celebrated as if Devidias had just scored a game winning touchdown in the NFC Conference Championship game and earned the team a trip to the Super Bowl. It was pretty cool. Taurosevicius looked real impressive. So impressive that if I was Renzo Gracie, I would think about benching Erik Owings for the finals.

Welterweight - Antonio McKee (Sabers) defeated Delson Heleno (Pitbulls) via split decision. This was a huge disappointment. Both guys spent a lot of time trying to feel one another out. A slow match came to a screeching halt when McKee took a nasty crotch shot from Heleno. There was a long pause in the match while McKee tried to compose himself. Heleno then hit another low knee that took McKee’s breath away but it appeared to be on the inner thigh and not the crotch. McKee hit a big slam at one point but Heleno made a nice transition and got top position.

Light Heavyweight – Vladimir Matyushenko (Sabers) defeated Tim Boetsch (Pitbulls) via unanimous decision. I thought Boetsch would be overmatched but I was completely wrong. The kid was not intimidated in the slightest and more than held his own. He got in some decent offense and fought like he had been fighting in the IFL for the past two seasons. The guy earns extra points for fighting on short notice after having just fought this past Saturday in West Orange, NJ for Combat in the Cage. Tim Boetsch is the man. The WEC should fly him out to Vegas for Sunday’s card so that he can have three pro fights in eight days.

Pitbulls wins 3-2.