Dana White and Roy Nelson Chew The Fat

Roy Nelson and UFC president Dana White had their meeting last week, and things seem to be no closer to a resolution. White wants Nelson to lose his infamous belly, Nelson maintains that he doesn’t have to because he has performed at the top level with it for a long time.


But Nelson is coming off back to back losses now for the second time in his career. His bargaining position is not a strong one in an organisation where two losses often means the loss of your place in the roster.

Nelson has some leverage thanks to winning TUF 10 and being a heavyweight, but fighters rarely get to go against White and the UFC’s wishes indefinitely. After his latest loss, to Frank Mir, Nelson was again making jokes about his rotund figure at the post-fight press conference.

“I said, 'The fat thing was funny for a minute. It's not funny anymore’. The thing with Roy is, Roy feels like he's an athlete that can perform. He says, ‘If you look at my entire career, I've performed at this weight.’” White recalled of their meeting last week.

“There's talks of him being sick the week before the fight (Nelson claims to have had walking pneumonia). I don't not believe him. I guess he had walking pneumonia, but Frank Mir did, too. Frank Mir was sick that week, too.”

“It is hard to talk to a guy that has performed at the level he has with that weight. He felt like he had one bad fight and everybody jumped on him. He said, ‘I've performed well at this weight. I'm a human being. I got sick. I still fought, and my cardio was horrible that night. I was dying.’”

Source: Fighters Only UK