Roy Nelson's Next Opponent Could Very Well be Junior Dos Santos

[xtremebadass]

Roy Nelson vs. Junior Dos Santos in the works for UFC 117 main card
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 10, 2010 at 8:10 am ET
Roy Nelson (15-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) won't be tussling with Cheick Kongo after all.

Kongo (15-6-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has withdrawn from a rumored meeting with Nelson at UFC 116 due to a back injury, according to multiple reports. In his place, the UFC has slotted a surprising replacement: Junior Dos Santos (11-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC).

According to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) sources close to the event, at least one fighter has agreed to the contest, now targeted for the main card of UFC 117, with the intention to sign a bout agreement.

UFC 117 takes place Aug. 7 at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. A middleweight title match between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen is expected to headline.

Nelson, 33, racked up his second consecutive octagon victory with a shellacking of 6-foot-11 Stefan Struve at UFC on Versus 1 in March. The winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 10" bucked most predictions by quickly getting inside on Struve and knocking him out with a right hand in just 33 seconds.

Previously, Nelson completed a decisive, yet controversial, sweep of the "TUF 10" heavyweights with a first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub in the show's finale. UFC president Dana White criticized his tactical approach to his fights on the show, and despite some initial push-back with the outspoken UFC figurehead, he later told MMAjunkie.com that he is now a "company man."

The 25-year-old Dos Santos fought alongside Nelson at UFC on Versus 1 and delivered his fifth consecutive stoppage victory when he knocked out former contender Gabriel Gonzaga in less than four minutes. The victory put the up-and-comer on many observers' lists as a serious contender in the division, which could make the fight with Nelson all the more pivotal.

The only man to make it out of the first round with Dos Santos is former PRIDE champion Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who verbally submitted to the Brazilian in the third round after being battered for more than two rounds.

Dos Santos also owns a first-round knockout victory over Struve, which took place at UFC 95 this past February.

Now this is a huge step up for Roy Nelson. If Nelson could knock off Junior Dos Santos that could catapult him into title contention. Dos Santos is definitely in the title picture following Cain and Carwin, but if, I said if, Nelson beats Dos Santos that could be HUGE.

I rank the UFC HW's as following right now

- with Brock being Champion.

1. Shane Carwin
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Frank Mir
4. Junior Dos Santos
5. Nog
6. Kongo
7. Roy Nelson
8. Matt Mitrione
9. Brendan Schaub
10. Chris Tuchscherer

Give or take a couple names I think that is how it works out

 

[Wordlife]

Nelson NEEDS this win. He hasn't had much of a challenge fight wise in the UFC, I mean he beat Struve and Schaub but that's about it. If he can knock off Dos Santos, he's a force to reckon with in the HW division easily.

 

[phantomgerald]

Yes yes yes! Dos Santos is not even next in line yet so he should continue fighting and Nelson gets a fighter that actually means something if he wins.

 

[Colin Gimp]

Nelson vs Santos is huge. So this must mean whoever wins will be fighting the win of carwin/lesnar. If Carwin loses he'll probably fight the loser of Nelson/santos, if Lesnar loses he'll probably fight Mir again. What I want to know is what happened to Mir/nelson? Maybe this doesn't have anything to do with the title (they'll probably only defend it once this year). Maybe this just has to do with Stefan Struve. Both Nelson and santos has knocked out Struve in the first round

 

[xtremebadass]

Nelson vs Santos is huge. So this must mean whoever wins will be fighting the win of carwin/lesnar.

I would hate to say this but the winner of this fight might face Cain, although Cain has deserved his own title shot for quite sometime now.

 

[NinoBrown]

This fight right here will birth a new legit challenger in the HW division. Whoever wins is right after Cain for the title, Mir might even face the winner next.

 

[JurassicBonez]

I was wondering how Metrione and Kimbo got on the ppv before Nelson did. I didn't know his opponent back out. I want to see what Nelson can do against some legit UFC guys. Brendan Schaub needs to get his ass on a card soon too.

 

[phantomgerald]

I was wondering how Metrione and Kimbo got on the ppv before Nelson did. I didn't know his opponent back out. I want to see what Nelson can do against some legit UFC guys. Brendan Schaub needs to get his ass on a card soon too.

He's on the card known as the undercard. If you watch MMA, you would know that is how they handle TUF guys. The guy with the contract will get a main card spot, the rest will get undercard spots. The guys that win their matches on the TUF finale get to fight until they rack up a losing streak.

 

[xtremebadass]

I was wondering how Metrione and Kimbo got on the ppv before Nelson did.

Well there is some truth to this. Nelson was put on the Fight Night LIVE card before getting onto PPV and Kimbo and Mitrione shot up to PPV without even winning TUF. You can argue that Nelson should have been the first to grace a PPV.

 

[phantomgerald]

^^^ Yeah but he was the main eventer. Main eventer on TV and 4th match on a not very stacked card seems equal to me.

 

[straight_edge76]

This fight is going to be huge for Nelson, if he wins this he will definetely be getting some consideration for the Heavyweight title. But I see Cain getting the next shot at the Lesnar/Carwin winner, however I could also see a Nelson/Dos Santos winner vs Cain fight to see who gets the next title shot. Hell, knowing Frank Mir he will also somehow find his way back into the title picture. But fuck what about Kongo? I think he atleast deserves some kind of consideration for atleast A fight with Mir or Nelson.

 

[xtremebadass]

Eh idk, the winner of Nelson/Dos Santos fighting Kongo would be a heavy step back. It is pretty unfair to Kongo I know, but Junior Dos Santos's KO over Gonzaga catapulted him into the spotlight of the UFC's HW division and everyone knows Nelson has some serious KO power of his own. Whoever emerges out of that fight would be levels above Kongo by default.

I don't want to see it, but Kongo could always fight Frank Mir...again. Or maybe a fight with Schaub.

 

[straight_edge76]

I see Kongo/Mir being the most likely choice. Kong, no matter how much I like the dude will never be looked at as A serious contender for the Heavyweight championship tbh. I predict Dos Santos/Nelson ending in a KO, whoever can land the big punch first walks out the winner.

 

[phantomgerald]

UFC is always about the money, and Kongo/Mir isn't going to sell because it's way too lopsided in the first fight. Kongo/Schuab makes some sense, but Schuab is never going to succeed against the big boys with his size. His best shot is seriously cutting down to 205.