What Does The Future Hold For Roy Nelson?
Roy Nelson has had an up and down career, from winning TUF Heavyweights, to compiling a 1-3 record between 2010-12 for the UFC. Since 2012 ‘Big Country’ has compiled a 3-0 record, with all coming by first round T/KO. He has finished Dave Herman, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo on the bounce. So things must be looking up for Nelson, right?
Well, according to a report featured in the Las Vegas Sun, this may not be the case. Nelson’s contract is set to expire after UFC 161 and, according to Nelson, he is unsure of his future in the UFC. Dana White reportedly offered Nelson an extension to his current contract, which Nelson promptly turned down. This caused White to publicly slate Nelson, reffering to him as ‘a (expletive) genius’.
He’s on the last fight of his deal and we owe him a fight,” White said. “He’s not giving us any extensions.
Nelson responded in a manner suitable to his quirky personality: He printed hundreds of T-shirts with the slogan and began selling them on his website. The “smartest guy on Earth” T-shirts are nearly sold out, according to Nelson.
Now as much as I adore Roy Nelson (and I don’t), this seems like a pretty hostile attitude to take with your bosses. Especially seeing as the UFC are pretty keen to shed any dead weight at the minute. It would seem that Nelson’s grievence stems from his sense of under appreciation, basiclly, he thinks the pay sucks.
“You’re working for a business and you’re getting paid $30 an hour, but you’re working for them and you’re an electrician and they’re charging $150 an hour,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t quite make sense.”
“I just thought it was freaking humorous,” Nelson said. “It’s the best compliment Dana has ever said to me. We’ve got these fighter conduct rules about what we’re allowed to say, and I think the president and (CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) represent the organization so they’re held to a higher standard, and it was the best compliment anyone could ever say.”
Jon Fitch will tell you rankings don’t matter if you ruffle the feathers of your bosses. If Nelson falls short against Stipe Miocic at UFC 161, it could be curtains for him as far as the UFC is concerned. Nelsons base pay of 24k to show and 24k to win may leave a lot to be desired, but a win against Miocic will do Nelson’s title aspirations some good. And title shots mean money.
With his contract negotiiations not going well, and the fact that he is a bit of a thorn in Dana’s side- could this be the end of the road for Nelson? That being said, anyone think Nelson has a point?
