UFC Heavyweight Roy Nelson managed to big-belly himself into many MMA fans' hearts after his stint on TUF 10. He defeated internet superstar Kimbo Slice early in the tournament and followed up with a first round KO of former NFL player Brendan Schaub in the TUF 10 Finale. Since then he's gone 5-3 in the UFC with 4 first-round TKO wins. The only outlier was Mirko Filopovic who lasted until the 3rd round before getting knocked out.

Despite his impressive finishes, Nelson has always fallen short when he faces top competition. His three losses before UFC 161 came to some of the best big fighters the UFC had to offer - Junior Dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, and Frank Mir. On the other hand, the closest he came to a signature win was when he KO'd Cheick Kongo at UFC 159. While Kongo has long held the role of HW gatekeeper, he's fallen recently and the only man to get a title shot off of beating him was Frank Mir when he choked him out to face Shane Carwin for the interim title. It was a solid win for Nelson, but not spectacular.

Only weeks after the Kongo KO, Nelson took Saturday night's fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 161. With Miocic coming off a loss to Stefan Struve and originally set to face a less talented fighter in Soa Palelei, the odds rightfully favored Nelson. However, Miocic rose to the occasion and employed a simple, yet effective, gameplan to upset his foe. From the first round Stipe circled hard to his right to avoid Nelson's most devastating punch. He countered with solid straight punches and got away when he was in danger. It was a simple, but effective plan but he utilized it to the fullest to win the unanimous decision.

Coming off a knockout loss to someone Roy had himself knocked out, Stipe was rightfully the underdog in this fight. However, despite facing a big challenge on short notice, he showed how a good gameplan can upset a limited fighter. Since his UFC debut, Nelson has increasingly relied on the devastating power of his right hand. Miocic used solid combination striking to put Nelson on the defensive. He complemented that by wrapping up and controlling Roy against the fence when he needed to. Roy's formidable chin held up to Miocic's power shots, but that was only enough to last until the final bell

Stipe expertly illustrated that Nelson's success has been the result of a heavy-hitting fighter benefiting from favorable matchmaking. The only one of Big Country's recent opponents who hadn't shown to be rockable was Matt Mitrione, who stood directly in front of him for the final minute before being knocked out.

Roy Nelson is a relatively talented Heavyweight, but is severely limited by his own love for his hands and size disadvantage in the big man's division. He'll continue to beat the lower level at HW and will also continue to be an open target for anyone with the Fight IQ, talent, and discipline to counter his limited style.

SBN coverage of UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson

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UFC 161 Results Sunday Perspective: Rashad Evans gets much needed win, and Stipe Miocic Impresses

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 10:05

UFC 161 was a card that was ravaged by injury. It was originally supposed be where the Interim Bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland would be featured and the rematch of an old Pride classic would take place with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Antonio Rogeiro Nogueira. But injury took its toll, canceling those two bouts and altering others, leaving us with a card that was not overly exciting, but represented the best of a bad situation.

Injuries are just part of the sport and while 2013 hasn't been ravaged the way 2012 was by constant bout changes and swaps due to injury, it is clear the days of guys toughing out serious injury to just get in the cage are gone. There is too much money at stake and fighters don't want to risk their careers for a single payday. And in all honestly fighters shouldn't have to fight injured so as painful for fans as it when an anticipated fight goes down the tubes, it is better for the fighters to heal up and get in the Octagon in tip-top shape.

On to the other thoughts on the event:

Rashad Evans got that all important win, but didn't necessarily impress during it. He did make more effective use of his jab and created offense with his striking in ways he has never done before. His stand up performance last night was miles ahead of the fighter who just sat back and let Forrest Griffin do whatever he wanted, dropped two rounds of kickboxing for winging a right hand for the win. But Rashad's wrestling did not look nearly as on point as it has in the past, he was totally unable to get Henderson to floor and historically getting Henderson down has not been the most difficult task for able wrestlers. This might simply have been the case that Rashad has never been a blast double leg in the center of the cage kind of guy, he much prefers to work against the fence, which is where Henderson excels at grappling.
Even with this win it is becoming increasing clear that Evans doesn't really know what he wants to do with his career. He made comments at the press conference that he was comfortable at Light Heavyweight, but then said if a good opportunity came up at Middleweight he'd take it. He then commented that he is fighting now for his love of competition. That is very concerning as it shows that Evans doesn't really have a plan going forward. It seems winning tonight was all Rashad was concerned with, and it was important as a loss here would have put him on three fight losing streak. But sometimes it isn't enough to gain a victory; it is knowing how to use it that makes the difference. Not sure where Rashad goes from here, but based on what he has stated I except a fight that is more of a money fight than a serious get back in title contention fight for Rashad.
Dan Henderson put up another spirited performance, but in the end it resulted another split decision loss that really shouldn't have been split. Henderson clearly slowed down in the second round and was breathing hard towards the end of the first round. Henderson's use of TRT likely prolonged his career and allowed him to turn back the hands of time for a bit but Henderson is on the verge of turning 43 and this is just a difficult sport to stay competitive in at that age. I'll never tell a fighter to retire and there are winnable fights at Light Heavyweight for Henderson but it is pretty clear now how not competitive a match between Henderson and Jones would be.
Stipe Miocic impressed the hell out of me in his fight with Roy Nelson. He was moving really well, cutting angles, landing hard counters after making Nelson over extend on his own punches, and the accuracy of the strikes thrown by Miocic were damn near perfect. It is very clear that I badly underestimated Miocic's fighting ability coming into this bout and this was a real bright spot of the card as we watched a new Heavyweight contender emerge. The best part was Miocic's defensive skills, normally his Achilles heel, was very much shored up as Nelson was unable to land his signature overhand right.
Nelson is the kind of fighter that when loses "it" things are going to go downhill in a hurry. Nelson looked slow, he gassed early in the fight and when he landed a right hand and Miocic didn't just fall over the fight seemed to leave Nelson. He held on and took his fifteen minute drubbing like a man, but this might be the beginning of the end for Roy Nelson. There are factors like taking this fight on short notice, but considering all that was at stake here I expected a bit more out of Nelson. Each time Miocic landed a strike it was like a video game where you could see the coins fly out of Roy Nelson as his next contract's monetary value decreased a little bit each time.
UFC fans you have now met the real Ryan Jimmo. A man with good footwork and power, but felt a need to press Igor Pokrajac into the fence, take him down, and then not really do anything. That was painful to watch.
Rosi Sexton put up a very spirited fight against Alexis Davis in a match that wasn't the all action affair the other UFC women's matches have been, but was still a very good and competitive fight. Davis ended up winning, but Sexton made it much, much harder that many originally thought it would be. There were some fun grappling exchanges and overall this was a good fight. Davis might have taken some of the luster of the idea of her being the ground fighter that would cause Ronda Rousey to keep things standing but she got the win and likely will get another chance in the Octagon before Rousey finishes everything with TUF and Meisha Tate.
Shawn Jordan and Pat Barry are friends, and if that is how Jordan fights his friends then I don't want to be his enemy. Jordan pounced on Barry after an uppercut rocked the former kickboxer and rained down strikes that seemed to do serious damage to the left side of Barry's face. Barry is a likable guy and seeing him absorb damage like that isn't all that much fun, but it was a good win for Jordan to build off of.
I thought Tyron Woodley won the main event of the undercard, as Jake Shields' offense was limited to pushing Woodley into the cage and a few "almost " takedowns. This wasn't a good fight as Woodley got back to his very limited offensive output ways and Shields continues to have no stand up. Bad fight all around and throw a crappy decision on top of that and it was a real downer.
James Krause looked excellent in his UFC debut. He threw some very nice kicks, opened a nasty gash on Sam Stout, and used his reach extremely well. Krause has grown a lot as a fighter since his 2009 run in the WEC and he got a chance to show that in this fight.
Kenny Robertson landed a hellacious elbow on Sean Pierson. Robertson had been ducking the jab and coming over the top with the right hand a few times and then substituted an elbow for the right hook, to great effect. I felt that final round was a 10-8 and that the fight should have at least ended in a draw, but two judges gave it to Pierson, not a robbery by any means.
Roland Delorme and Dustin Pague both had great offensive grappling output in their fights, throwing up submissions from every which way and made the early undercard fun to watch. Sadly Pague was not rewarded for his offensive grappling, the judges rewarding the top position of Yves Jabouin.

To share thoughts go to the comment line below or reach out to T.P. Grant on Twitter or Facebook.

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Garcia vs. Lopez fight video highlights: Watch fight video of Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Manuel Lopez

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 09:42

Watch fight video highlights of Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Manuel Lopez right here on Bloody Elbow.

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Evans Earns Split Decision, Complete UFC 161 Results

MMA News - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 09:18

By <a href="mailto:howie@mmanews.com">Chris Howie</a> MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer UFC 161 is in the books and featured 11 bouts, nine of which went to decision, and was highlighted by a main event between two of the best 205lb fighters in the world in Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson. We have complete results below: Main Card (Live on PPV, 10:00 PM ET) --Rashad Evans defeated Dan Henderson by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) -Stipe Miocic defeated Roy Nelson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) -Ryan Jimmo defeated Igor Pokrajac by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) -Alexis Davis defeated Rosi Sexton by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) -Shawn Jordan defeated Pat Barry by TKO (Punches, 1st Round, 0:49) Preliminary Card (Live on FX, 8:00 PM ET) -Jake Shields defeated Tyron Woodley by Split Decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28) -James Krause defeated Sam Stout by Submission (Guillotine, 3rd Round, 4:40) -Sean Pierson defeated Kenny Robertson by Majority Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28) -Roland Delorme defeated Edwin Figueroa by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Preliminary Card (Live on Facebook, 7:05 PM) -Mitch Clarke defeated John Maguire by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) -Yves Jabouin defeated Dustin Pague by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Leave your feedback on this article by posting a comment directly below! You can also chat about the latest news in the MMANEWS.COM <a href=http://www.mmanews.com/forums >Forums</a> and/or the MMANEWS.COM <a href=http://www.facebook.com/mmanewsdotcom >Facebook</a>. If that wasn't enough, MMANEWS.COM is now on Twitter as well <a href=http://twitter.com/mmanewsdotcom >@mmanewsdotcom</a>.

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UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson results - Winners and Losers

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 09:00

I'm not going to be charitable here - UFC 161 wasn't a good card. Sure, it had some good moments. And I'm not the type to hate on a card simply because a lot of fights went to decision. But let's face it - some horrible fights really dragged down the rest of the event. The main and co-main were decent fights, and Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton really impressed me. Shawn Jordan delivered too. But Jake Shields and Tyron Woodley did a good job of killing all the atmosphere in the featured prelim, and Ryan Jimmo one-upped them by killing any momentum the main card had. I might feel differently about the card after some reflection time, but right now I'm pretty disappointed that I shelled out coin for that.

Anyway, onto the winners and losers.

Winners

Rashad Evans - There's no point in downplaying it - this win saved Rashad's light heavyweight career. If two judges went with Hendo, we'd likely see Rashad at 185 pounds the next time he stepped into the octagon. Alas, he got the nod and picked up another big win. He desperately needed this after the loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, but I'm not really sure if this is going to bump him up as much as he thinks it will. His ultimate goal is another shot at the title, but is anyone really interested in that? Even if Alexander Gustafsson somehow upsets Jon Jones, is Rashad at the front of the line for a shot? No. He needs at least one more marquee win for people to get behind him again. And the guy he likely faces next (Glover Teixeira) is a no-win situation for him.

Stipe Miocic - Well, I didn't see that coming. That was, by far, the best Miocic we've seen in the UFC. He gameplanned well, picked his spots, and totally dominated an ill-prepared Big Country. It's easy to say that Nelson wasn't mentally there, or didn't have enough time to prepare. But those are copouts. Miocic beat the brakes off of him and didn't show any of the porous striking defense I've seen in other fights. The man is now a top-10 heavyweight in the UFC. Can't get much better than that for a night's work.

Rosi Sexton - Yes, she lost. And yes, you might be confused as to why she's gracing my list. Well, she's here because Rosi impressed the hell out of me tonight. She's a natural flyweight that was in there with a legit top-five 135-pounder, and she held her own. In fact, she beat the crap out of Davis. Stuck in a triangle? Screw that, let's just punch her in the grill for a while. A black belt has your back? Who cares, I'll spin back into guard and punch her in the face some more. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big Alexis Davis fan (Canada!) and she deserved the W for her efforts. But I thought Sexton was going to get steamrolled by a bigger fighter, and she didn't at all. She has more heart than a lot of male fighters twice her size. How can you not respect that?

Shawn Jordan - It's not like Pat Barry has an iron chin or anything. But that was an extremely impressive performance from Jordan. After the feel-out process, he just caught him and finished him in under a minute. He's now 3-1 in the UFC and while I don't exactly see him standing across from a top-five fighter anytime soon, he has now established himself as an upper-tier guy in a featured division. Not bad for 59 seconds of cage time.

James Krause - There's no way to spin his performance against Stout into a negative. The man is simply a completely different fighter than the one that got worked by Donald Cerrone in the WEC four years ago. He uses his size and reach so much more effectively now. He fought a brilliant fight against a great kickboxer, and he got 100k in bonus money for his efforts. Hats off to him, and I hope he can keep it up in a stacked division. I'll certainly be paying more attention to his next fight.

Losers

Dan Henderson - Two split decision losses in a row has to be incredibly frustrating. At 42, this loss probably eliminates him from any sort of title contendership. And when you're 42, what else are you fighting for? Paychecks are great and all that, but it's not like Hendo is hurting for coin. Unless they put a legitimately interesting challenge in front of him next time out, I'd probably find it pretty hard to get motivated if I was in Henderson's shoes. He just fell out of the top 5, so what is he supposed to get up for? A bout with Ryan Bader or someone similar? Hendo isn't going to retire, but I don't think he's going to be in a big rush to fight again unless the landscape of the division changes.

Roy Nelson - I think this one is pretty obvious. His contract demands just went in the shitter, for a lack of a better term. He gambled and lost. Roy clearly thought that if he took the short-notice fight and beat Miocic, the UFC would open their pocketbooks and reward the guy that just fought nine times on a horrible TUF contract. Instead, he got blown out by a prospect and now has to bargain from a horrible position. Will he move onto Bellator or somewhere that his name value might earn him some extra money? I don't know. What I do know is that Roy and his agent Mike Kogan just got introduced to what's known as a worst-case scenario.

Tyron Woodley - I hated everything about his fight with Shields. First off, he showed zero aggression for the first 10 minutes. I was really surprised when Dana White was crying robbery because it didn't make any sense. Was Shields blowing him away? Of course not. But he was using some volume striking, however ineffective, to take the first two rounds while Woodley looked overly cautious. I also hated Woodley's corner pumping up the fact that he just needs to land the right once to put Shields away, because it led him to throw it with zero setup and it always missed. The performance was just bad, and there's no way that Woodley deserved the decision in my eyes.

Sam Stout - He hadn't been finished in seven years, and a guy making his UFC debut chokes him out with no time left on the clock? That's not good. For all of the accolades and bonuses that Stout gets, he's 8-8 in the UFC. That's not that great, and it's pretty clear that he's a middling UFC lightweight. It's going to be pretty tough to get past that label after what happened last night.

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Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Can Handle Chael Sonnen Smack Talk

FightLine.com MMA News - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 08:49

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Can Handle Chael Sonnen Smack Talk

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Renzo Gracie Training For UFC Return As Lightweight

FightLine.com MMA News - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 08:48

Renzo Gracie Training For UFC Return As Lightweight

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Vinny Magalhaes: Anthony Perosh's Black Belt Means Little

FightLine.com MMA News - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 08:47

Vinny Magalhaes: Anthony Perosh's Black Belt Means Little

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Anthony Pettis Distraught Over Injury

FightLine.com MMA News - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 08:45

Anthony Pettis Distraught Over Injury

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UFC 161 Fight Video: Watch Rashad Evans take a split decision over Dan Henderson

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 03:11

Watch a clip from the UFC 161 main event bout between Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson.

Video: Highlights: UFC 161: Evans - Henderson

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UFC 161: Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton full fight video highlights

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 03:10

Check out video highlights of the UFC 161 women's bantamweight bout between Alexis Davis and Rosi Sexton.

Video: Highlights: UFC 16: Davis - Sexton

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UFC 161: Stipe Miocic vs. Roy Nelson full fight video highlights

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 03:07

Check out video highlights of the UFC 161 co-main event heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson and Stipe Miocic.

Video: Highlights: UFC 161: Miocic - Nelson

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Mitch Clarke Speaks on UFC 161 Bout with John Maguire

411 Mania MMA Feed - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 02:00

Clarke says he is looking forward to fighting this time...

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UFC 161 results: Jordan, Krause, Stout take Fight Night bonuses

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 01:43

Well someone had to win. While UFC 161 will go down in history as one of the most decision loaded cards in UFC history and popular Heavyweight Roy Nelson set a new record for strikes absorbed without being knocked out, it wasn't all bad.

Heavyweight Shawn Jordan had a lucrative 59 seconds in the Octagon tonight at UFC 161 against Pat Barry. Not only did he win his fight purse and double it with a win bonus, he also took home $50,000 for KO of the Night. He didn't have a lot of competition since he scored the only TKO finish of the evening.

Lightweights James Krause and Sam Stout earned $50,000 each for Fight of the Night and Krause doubled his money by getting Submission of the Night for his guillotine choke submission of Stout. It didn't hurt his chances that he scored the only submission on the card.

SBN coverage of UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson

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UFC 161 results: Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson full fight video highlights

Bloody Elbow - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 01:29

Check out video highlights of the UFC 161 main event light heavyweight bout between Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans.

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Ryan Jimmo Says He's Seeking Redemption at UFC 161

411 Mania MMA Feed - Sun, 06/16/2013 - 01:00

He thinks he made a mistake taking his last fight...

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UFC 161: Evans Vs. Henderson Bonuses, Gate, Attendance Numbers

Anthony Pettis Has Different Opinion Than UFC Boss In Regards To UFC 164

Roy Nelson: My UFC Future Is In Hands Of Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta

UFC 161 Video Recaps Of Evans-Henderson, Miocic-Nelson

UFC 161 results: Stipe Miocic exposes overrated heavyweight Roy Nelson

UFC 161 Results Sunday Perspective: Rashad Evans gets much needed win, and Stipe Miocic Impresses

Garcia vs. Lopez fight video highlights: Watch fight video of Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Manuel Lopez

Evans Earns Split Decision, Complete UFC 161 Results

UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson results - Winners and Losers

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Can Handle Chael Sonnen Smack Talk

Renzo Gracie Training For UFC Return As Lightweight

Vinny Magalhaes: Anthony Perosh's Black Belt Means Little

Anthony Pettis Distraught Over Injury

UFC 161 Fight Video: Watch Rashad Evans take a split decision over Dan Henderson

UFC 161: Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton full fight video highlights

UFC 161: Stipe Miocic vs. Roy Nelson full fight video highlights

Mitch Clarke Speaks on UFC 161 Bout with John Maguire

UFC 161 results: Jordan, Krause, Stout take Fight Night bonuses

UFC 161 results: Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson full fight video highlights

Ryan Jimmo Says He's Seeking Redemption at UFC 161

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