Roy Nelson did enough to win at UFC Fight Night 82, but just barely.
Nelson's co-main event with fellow heavyweight Jared Rosholt resulted in a unanimous decision victory for Big Country. However, the only memorable part of the fight was its logic-defying lack of memorable moments.
According to UFC stat keeper FightMetric, Nelson landed 42 significant strikes. Rosholt was even worse, connecting on only 36 significant blows. For comparison, in an earlier bout, flyweight Joseph Benavidez landed 66 significant strikes. Neither Rosholt nor Nelson—both men with substantial wrestling and grappling pedigrees—landed a takedown in three combined attempts.
None of those stats, however, fully illustrate how unimpressive that 15 minutes of exhaustion, stumbling and overall reluctance to engage really was.
"Roy Nelson appears to be the fresher fighter" is a sentence I never expected to hear.
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) February 7, 2016
After the fight, Nelson attempted to place the blame for the fight at Rosholt's feet during an interview with UFC correspondent Megan Olivi, which was subsequently posted to the UFC's official YouTube channel.
"I know I try to give the fans an explosion, a fun fight," Nelson said. "I didn't think [Rosholt] was gonna run the whole time. I mean, Jared's a great athlete, but he's not a fighter. And tonight I think I showed that to the UFC world. He's a great athlete, but, man, when you've gotta fight, you've gotta fight."
It's not an unfair characterization, even if Nelson does deserve some of the "credit" for the dull affair. The 39-year-old Nelson (21-12) remains popular with fans, even if he has only minimal athleticism remaining. A loser in his three fights prior to Saturday night, Nelson typically plods around the cage, seeking a home for his big right hand, which still wields knockout power. If he cannot land the right hand, however, he appears to have precious few backup options.
Still, Rosholt is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the UFC's least-charismatic competitors. A three-time All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, the 29-year-old Rosholt is now 14-3 in pro MMA but is known more for his dogged aversion to action than for the success his record reveals. Rosholt's primary offense is to stifle opponents by pressing and holding them on the mat or against the fence or, as was the case with Nelson, simply staying well out of striking range.
The loss to Nelson snapped Rosholt's three-fight win streak.
There was no immediate word from the UFC on what the future might hold for either fighter. However, it's probably fair to guess that neither man will see the top end of a main card again any time soon. Particularly, Rosholt might be destined for the undercard regardless of his record unless he proves that he is a fighter who is more willing to fight.
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