NELSON VS. DOS SANTOS: A TWO-YEAR TIMELINE
The heavyweight division in the last two-years has been nothing short of spectacular. Upsets, rising talent, fading stars and the first loss of the Last Emperor have all happened. Just like the division has been shaken up in the last two-years, so has the careers of Roy Nelson and Junior dos Santos.
Two-years ago, the former heavyweight champion of the International Fight League Roy "Big Country" Nelson stepped into the Elite XC cage with dangerous striker Andrei Arlovski. Arlovski at the time was second best heavyweight in the world and the fight was broadcasting on CBS in front of millions of viewers. Nelson, the average-looking, pot-bellied American is a polar-opposite of the tall, muscular Belarus native. This however didn't stop Roy from taking the fight to him and at one point had Andrei in side-control. A controversial ref stand up while Nelson had Arlovski in side-control changed the fight completely. It quickly became apparent that Roy was no match for Arlovski's kick boxing and was knocked out.
A few weeks later, Junior dos Santos made his debut in the UFC. This was a career changing fight for Junior as he was facing fellow Brazilian and number one contender in the UFC Fabricio Werdum. The fight lasted under two-minutes and the result was total shock; dos Santos KO'd Werdum with one-punch. This ignited the dynamite on Junior's promising UFC career.
Six months later, Nelson's career was taking a downward spiral as he dropped a decision to Jeff Monson; marking his first ever back-to-back losses. As Roy's career was in jeopardy, Junior's blossomed with another impressive KO of Stefan Struve.
Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter was approaching and the UFC decided it would be a heavyweight tournament. Roy Nelson was signed on as a cast member and to no hardcore fans surprise won the competition. During his time on the show a TUF record breaking seven-million viewers watched Roy defeat Kimbo Slice by TKO. This only added to the marketability of the average-looking guy. The airing of TUF 10 was during and close to two of dos Santos' fights. One with legend Mirko 'Cro Cop' and Gilbert Yvel. Junior earned a TKO in each bouts with the Pride veterans and was turning heads once again.
Less than a week apart from each other, Junior and Roy were on a two seperate free TV fight cards. Roy fought the Dutch giant Stefan Struve and quickly slayed the high tower with a 39 second TKO. Junior had a more dangerous task in front of him as he fought former title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga. The outcome was the same for dos Santos as he quickly adapted to Gonzaga's strategy and knocked him unconscious in the first round.
Now almost four months later, these two heavyweight goliaths will face off to see who will become the number one contender to the UFC heavyweight crown. The fight lines favour dos Santos but Roy is underestimating with both his physical appearance and level of fighting. The bout can easily go either way as Junior is still unproven on the ground at the UFC level. Both these men have the ability to finish the fight with one-punch but Nelson will most likely want to put Junior's untested ground game in vulnderable situations.
UFC 117 marks the biggest fight in both these mens careers to date. With a win, gives them a golden ticket to the winner of Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.
Two-years ago, the former heavyweight champion of the International Fight League Roy "Big Country" Nelson stepped into the Elite XC cage with dangerous striker Andrei Arlovski. Arlovski at the time was second best heavyweight in the world and the fight was broadcasting on CBS in front of millions of viewers. Nelson, the average-looking, pot-bellied American is a polar-opposite of the tall, muscular Belarus native. This however didn't stop Roy from taking the fight to him and at one point had Andrei in side-control. A controversial ref stand up while Nelson had Arlovski in side-control changed the fight completely. It quickly became apparent that Roy was no match for Arlovski's kick boxing and was knocked out.
A few weeks later, Junior dos Santos made his debut in the UFC. This was a career changing fight for Junior as he was facing fellow Brazilian and number one contender in the UFC Fabricio Werdum. The fight lasted under two-minutes and the result was total shock; dos Santos KO'd Werdum with one-punch. This ignited the dynamite on Junior's promising UFC career.
Six months later, Nelson's career was taking a downward spiral as he dropped a decision to Jeff Monson; marking his first ever back-to-back losses. As Roy's career was in jeopardy, Junior's blossomed with another impressive KO of Stefan Struve.
Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter was approaching and the UFC decided it would be a heavyweight tournament. Roy Nelson was signed on as a cast member and to no hardcore fans surprise won the competition. During his time on the show a TUF record breaking seven-million viewers watched Roy defeat Kimbo Slice by TKO. This only added to the marketability of the average-looking guy. The airing of TUF 10 was during and close to two of dos Santos' fights. One with legend Mirko 'Cro Cop' and Gilbert Yvel. Junior earned a TKO in each bouts with the Pride veterans and was turning heads once again.
Less than a week apart from each other, Junior and Roy were on a two seperate free TV fight cards. Roy fought the Dutch giant Stefan Struve and quickly slayed the high tower with a 39 second TKO. Junior had a more dangerous task in front of him as he fought former title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga. The outcome was the same for dos Santos as he quickly adapted to Gonzaga's strategy and knocked him unconscious in the first round.
Now almost four months later, these two heavyweight goliaths will face off to see who will become the number one contender to the UFC heavyweight crown. The fight lines favour dos Santos but Roy is underestimating with both his physical appearance and level of fighting. The bout can easily go either way as Junior is still unproven on the ground at the UFC level. Both these men have the ability to finish the fight with one-punch but Nelson will most likely want to put Junior's untested ground game in vulnderable situations.
UFC 117 marks the biggest fight in both these mens careers to date. With a win, gives them a golden ticket to the winner of Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.
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