Roy Nelson

Roy Nelson (born June 20, 1976) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division.

As a professional, he has competed for the UFC, EliteXC, the IFL, BodogFIGHT, and most recently for Bellator MMA.

In the UFC, Nelson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights and achieved success as a top 10 UFC Heavyweight.

Nelson is also the former IFL Heavyweight Champion, competing under Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den.

He holds notable victories over Mirko Cro Cop, Cheick Kongo, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Nelson was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and attended Cimarron-Memorial High School, where he competed in wrestling, football, and baseball.

Nelson briefly trained in karate and began training in Ark Wong's Ng Ga Kuen Shaolin Kung Fu when he was 15 years old.

Nelson worked briefly in a warehouse in 1999.

Nelson originally began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under UFC veteran John Lewis in 2000.

After seven years working as a substitute teacher and after-school program volunteer in Clark County, Nelson began his own career in mixed martial arts.

Prior to Nelson's professional mixed martial arts career, he played rugby for the Las Vegas Blackjacks for two seasons (2002–2003).

Nelson was known initially for his strong jiu-jitsu skills, having consistently won jiu-jitsu tournaments before his MMA career, conclusively beating Frank Mir, Brandon Vera, and Diego Sanchez in the same day to win a Grapplers Quest championship in 2003, and competing at the ADCC World Championships the same year.

Nelson made his professional mixed martial arts debut at a tournament on April 17, 2004.

Nelson won both of his fights, winning the Rage on the River Heavyweight Tournament.

Nelson compiled a record of 6–1 before being signed by the IFL.

As a member of Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den, Nelson was asked to become a member of the IFL's Nevada Lions in 2007, and made his promotional debut at IFL: Oakland on January 19, 2007, against veteran Vince Lucero.

Nelson won via TKO in the first round.

In the 2007 IFL World Grand Prix, Nelson became the Heavyweight Champion, defeating Antoine Jaoude on December 29, 2007.

Nelson successfully defended his title twice, before the IFL ceased operations.

After the IFL ceased operations Nelson took a fight with EliteXC on 10 days' notice against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski.

Roy Nelson lost via KO in the second round; however, controversy broke out over Nelson being stood up by the referee in the first round from side control, while staying active and working on a kimura.

He then went on to fight for Roy Jones Jr..'s Square Ring Promotions against Jeff Monson.

This fight also ended in a controversial loss for Nelson.

According to the TV commentators and most MMA media, Nelson won the bout.

However, Monson was awarded a unanimous decision.

Nelson was one of the sixteen fighters in The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

He provided commentary on the show for multiple websites, including weekly Q&A sessions about each individual episode for USA Today's Fighting Stances and a blog for SpikeTV.com.

In his first fight of the show, Nelson defeated former street-fighter Kimbo Slice via TKO stoppage in the second round with repeated punches to the head in the crucifix position.

The broadcast was the highest rated MMA show in U.S. history with a 3.7 rating.

The fight itself had 6 million viewers.

In the quarterfinals, Nelson defeated Justin Wren in a two-round majority decision.

In the semi-finals, Nelson defeated James McSweeney via strikes in the first round again utilizing the crucifix position.

He defeated Brendan Schaub at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale to become the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

In the finale, Nelson knocked out Schaub at 3:45 into the first round with a right hook to Schaub's left temple and then hit Schaub on the ground with one punch to the face before the referee pulled Nelson off Schaub.

With the win, Nelson earned a six-figure contract with the UFC.

Nelson was scheduled to fight Cheick Kongo, though the bout was cancelled after Kongo withdrew.

Nelson instead faced Junior dos Santos at UFC 117 in a bout to determine the #1 contender (after Cain Velasquez) to the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Nelson lost by unanimous decision, but was able to withstand the varied attacks of dos Santos, as he was becoming the first man to take dos Santos to a decision.

Nelson was scheduled to face Shane Carwin at UFC 125.

Nelson has been a long-time student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu master Renzo Gracie, who granted him a black belt on August 26, 2009.