At UFC Fight Night 52 on Saturday night - or Saturday morning, depending on your time zone - the unthinkable happened: Roy Nelson was knocked out. Clean. There will be no controversy here, not in the end. He got clipped, got dropped, and while he was only out for the briefest of moments, he was out. No one really saw that coming, and it's a credit to opponent Mark Hunt, two year's Nelson's senior. At age 40, Hunt is still one of the hardest hitters in the game, like Nelson. It will shake up the heavyweight rankings, however. And it may put to rest, at long last, the idea that Nelson will ever challenge for a title. At age 38, Nelson is on his final UFC contract, and realistically has only two to three years left in the sport. Suffering his first UFC knockout isn't the end of his career however. Nelson has been knocked out once before, though that was a bit more debatable, by Andrei Arlovski prior to joining the UFC. And not fighting for the title isn't the end of the world: Nelson will remain a headliner for at least his next few fights; he'll still entertain, and as always, he'll be the ultimate gatekeeper in the UFC heavyweight division. Who should he be paired up with next? Well that's the question. There are a lot of options out there, a lot of big name heavyweights coming off of losses. Several are in the top ten, and might sneak Nelson back into the title picture, though hopes would seem slim. Still, lets take a look at five possible fights that could be next for Roy Nelson.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
