The UFC is preparing to add some meat to UFC 137: St-Pierre vs. Diaz. Struggling heavyweights Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson are reportedly on tap to fight in Las Vegas on October 29.
The news piggybacks off of BJ Penn vs. Carlos Condit which was reported to also be on tap for the UFC 137 event. I can’t imagine Nelson vs. Cro Cop not being on the pay per view. While Cro Cop and Nelson certainly aren’t coming off showstopper performances, the names add value to what is turning out to be a star studded Ultimate Fighting Championship card.
[adinserter block=”1″]I have to admit that these are two guys that I never expected to be fighting either against each other or even on future UFC events. UFC president was highly critical of both men following their last fights and left the MMA media with the impression that both fighters were on the bubble. This fight is likely an all or nothing situation for both men, especially Cro Cop.
Cro Cop is coming off two highly disappointing losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub. Cro Cop was knocked out in both fights after taking both guys deep into the final round. After seeing how easily Cro Cop went down against Schaub, most presumed that Cro Cop’s days as an MMA fighter were over. However, the former Pride FC star asked the UFC to fulfill his contract and fight the final fight of his deal. After reconsideration White acquiesced and here we are.
Roy Nelson is in a real interesting position at this point in his UFC career. Nelson was immediately blasted by UFC commentator Joe Rogan and Dana White for his sluggish performance against Frank Mir at UFC 130. White was outraged after the fight and demanded an immediate meeting with Nelson.
“I thought Roy looked terrible tonight,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “I thought it was terrible. I thought it was embarrassing. “We saw how durable and tough ‘Big Country’ is in the dos Santos fight,” White continued. “But at least in the dos Santos fight, it was action the whole fight.”
It was later reported that Nelson not only had walking pneumonia coming into the fight, but wound up in the emergency room 24 hours after the fight. Needless to say White and critics looked pretty foolish because at the end of the day, Nelson was doing the UFC the favor by not backing out of the fight and in return, got blasted for his performance.
[adinserter block=”1″]While both fighters are coming off back to back losses, Nelson’s situation is much different. Nelson was neither knocked out or submitted in both losses. Nelson took the UFC #1 contender at heavyweight Junior Dos Santos the distance in his first UFC loss. On top of that, Nelson was hit hard by both Frank Mir and JDS (two of the heaviest hitters in the UFC) and never went down as opposed to Cro Cop who went down hard in his last two losses.
I am a big Cro Cop fan but I have about had it with him at this stage in his career. He has only shown up about 25% of the time and appears to be more interested in cashing checks during his latest go-around than standing up with his opponents. I understand the complexities of a contract but asking fans to pay to watch Mirko Cro Cop at this point in his career is an insult.
Roy Nelson deserves another opportunity and this is a must-win fight for Big County. This fight is a set up and if Nelson can’t knock out the man with the glass jaw, he may as well go back on The Ultimate Fighter and fight for another contract. A loss to Cro Cop would likely result in a cut for Nelson.
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