MMA Nation - UFC 137: Georges St. Pierre Out Of Title Fight, Penn Vs. Diaz New Main Event

UFC 137's Roy Nelson: 'I'd Have To Lose Muscle' To Make 205 Pounds

2011-10-27T18:25:41Z

If you ask Roy Nelson, he'll tell you he ranks in the top five of the UFC heavyweight division. And if you ask him about potentially dropping to light heavyweight (205lbs), he'll tell you he'd have to cut a leg cut off just to make the weight. "But I'd still do pretty good," he says dryly.

As Nelson heads into something of a rebound fight with Mirko Filipovic this weekend at UFC 137, his sights are firmly set on the heavyweight division. He's suffered setbacks against Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir. And he's been showered with suggestions about fitness changes from UFC President Dana White to the lowliest fan. Despite the arm-twisting about recalibrating his body and even career, Nelson has no intentions of changing weight classes. The fighter out of a Fernando Botero painting continues to view himself as a top heavyweight contender who is a mere one or two wins away from reclaiming the August 2010 momentum he had before facing Junior dos Santos.

In this interview with MMA Nation on 106.7 The Fan, Nelson discusses weight loss, where he ranks in the UFC heavyweight division, what went wrong against Frank Mir and learning how to marry his responsibilities as both fighter and businessmen.

Full audio and transcript below:

Luke Thomas: Alright joining us right now on the McDonald's hotline, he takes on Mirko Cro Cop this Saturday at 9 p.m. October 29^th at UFC 137 as part of the undercard for B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz, the one and only Roy Nelson. Roy, how are you?

Roy Nelson: I'm pretty good, how you doing?

Luke Thomas: I'm going good Roy, there was a picture this week of you and UFC light heavyweight Forrest Griffin. Now Forrest Griffin is actually a very large light heavyweight but it looked like you had really slimmed down. Can you speak to that? Was that picture just one of those cell phone pictures where you can't accurately tell how much weight a person has lost or have you really sort of trimmed down for this fight?

Roy Nelson: I think it's my beard, it makes my face look smaller and we know Forrest is off and he's a big light heavyweight, he's about 4-5 inches taller than me.

Luke Thomas: It's true, he's definitely big, but it didn't look like he was just bigger but it didn't look like it was just your beard. As magnificent as the beard is, it didn't look like it was just the beard. Are you telling me you're exactly on weight as you were for say, the Frank Mir or Junior dos Santos fights?

Roy Nelson: I'm probably, the other day when I weighed myself I was 262 so I was two pounds heavier than what I was for against Frank.

Luke Thomas: Okay, I want to talk about your fight with Mirko Cro Cop in just a minute but let's take a step back if you would. I would like to get your thoughts on two of the biggest heavyweight fights this year in part because you've faced one of the guys competing. Cain Velasquez taking on Junior dos Santos, that will be for UFC on FOX. You fought dos Santos, you went the distance with him and you know what he's capable of. With Cain coming off of surgery, what chances to you give Junior of upsetting Cain and taking his belt?

Roy Nelson: Upsetting Cain? I don't think it would be an upset so much. I think whoever controls the fight in the first 2 ½ minutes is going to go on to win the fight.

Luke Thomas: And for Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem, it's cliché to say it but it's the classic grappler versus striker. Can Lesnar rebound from two bouts with diverticulitis or for Overeem, is this a runaway for him?

Roy Nelson: I have no idea. I couldn't even really tell you because Brock was supposed to fight in June and then he didn't so I can't even tell you like that he's even gonna fight.

Luke Thomas: Alright, so let's circle back to your fight, UFC 137 taking on Cro Cop. It's sort of interesting to me that you and Mitrione and Schaub, who were all on the same cast for Spike TV season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, you guys have all had your ups and downs. If you had to sort of rank where you guys are at this point in the UFC heavyweight division, you, Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione, where would you put yourself and then those other two fighters?

Roy Nelson: I don't really know here I'd put them two, but with me, I know I'm game to fight Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos. I've been fighting those top dogs all the way ever since I've gotten out of the Ultimate Fighter house. I do think this is the first test for Matt Mitrione so we'll find out on Saturday if he can even get past a guy that's been in the UFC for while. Brendan has definitely shown that he's right there in the middle of the pack beating Gonzaga and then Gonzaga retires so it all depends. For myself, I put myself in the top five easy and then Brendan 5-10 and then 10-15 for Matt.

Luke Thomas: You know Brendan Schaub and you have a similar opponent obviously, this one this weekend, Mirko Cro Cop. Brendan won but it wasn't until the third round until he put Cro Cop away. I know you don't care about this because you don't think about it but now that I'm asking you, I know you would like to finish him quickly but is it any kind of importance or any matter of significance that you finish him more quickly than Schaub did?

Roy Nelson: Nah, I could take all three rounds, take fifteen minutes. I think what it was, I think it was the same thing as with Frank [Mir]. Brendan was actually doing better than Frank was in their fight but it's all about styles and matches and it also depends on if the guy wants to fight you or doesn't want to fight you and then the whole element of the thing is: does the guy make a mistake? With Schaub, he made a mistake through a kick without putting his hands up and that's how he got the knockout.

Luke Thomas: So the biggest takeaway from the Frank Mir loss was what. When you look back and think, "Well here's what went right and here's what went wrong." In your mind, what went wrong?

Roy Nelson: What's wrong was do not do any expos before a fight. Do not touch dirty people.

Luke Thomas: There was an interview that came out this week about you getting sick. Was it from touching people at the expos? How long had you been feeling under the weather going into that fight? Was it a week, two weeks, two days? How long?

Roy Nelson: I got sick after I went to Toronto for the UFC expo and I didn't think, I was like, "Okay, I've got plenty of time to recover," but I didn't want any antibiotics because antibiotics really messes with your cardio and really puts you underneath the weather so I was gonna tough it out and do the man thing and still go to work being sick and during the fight, I just hit a wall. It's not like playing basketball and then drinking some Gatorade and you can pull it out in the fourth quarter.

Luke Thomas: What I'm kind of curious about, for certain you didn't get the best performance out yourself at 130 that you wanted, fair enough, but didn't you notice in training, any kind of inability to rise to what you're historically accustomed to? Did you feel, "My god, maybe I'm not getting the training out this I need because I'm not feeling so great." Did you feel that way?

Roy Nelson: Yeah, when you feel like you're still fighting at 75 percent or 65 percent, but if you think you're 65 is better than that guy's 100 percent, you still gotta do it if that makes any sense. It's like Michael Jordan playing sick because, "My 60 percent is better than that guy's 120."

Luke Thomas: Okay, looking back now, do you always need to be as close to 100 as possible to win and win consistently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship?

Roy Nelson: If you want to hang with the big dogs, you've got to definitely make sure you're on your A-Game. I've always been the fighter first and the businessman second so I've kinda been more of a mixed martial artist now. I learned from my last loss to be more of a complete mixed martial artist when it comes to business. You've got the business, then you've got to be the fighter and then you've got to be the entertainer. You've got to mold those all three to where it fits together and makes harmony. You can't just be a fighter all the time.

Luke Thomas: So what does that mean for your matchmaking. Does that mean you'll be more selective in saying, "This fight can do this for me and this fight can't?"

Roy Nelson: I've never done it that way but in a business standpoint I could be like Koscheck and say, "I just want money fights," but like pretty much all my fights have been the top dogs and I like facing the top athletes in the world. I just want to make sure I'm always 100 percent if I'm fighting the top athletes in the world.

Luke Thomas: So let's say it came along, and I'm just throwing this out there, I'm not in any way suggesting that it could, I'm just offering it to you. Joe Silva calls you tomorrow and says, "Alright, I've got something completely out of the box for you Nelson. I want you to fight either Shogun or Jon Jones and if you beat Shogun then you get a shot at Jon Jones." I know you're tired of the 205 pound questions but is that so intriguing that it makes smart business and fighting sense for you?

Roy Nelson: I would ask you, "How much?" and then I'd need to figure out how much I could lose off of liposuction or getting amputated from cutting my leg off.

Luke Thomas: (laughs) So in other words, if there was a lot of money involved, say seven figures, is seven figures enough to make a major career change?

Roy Nelson: Major career change? Yeah because then I could afford surgery.

Luke Thomas: You sort of make the point in the same way Daniel Cormier does, there's just no realistic way of making that weight at least not in your own enthusiastic efforts but is it, I mean short of surgery, short of drastic means like gastric bypass, is it biologically for you to make it? Forget the will, forget all that other stuff. Is it biologically impossible short of surgery?

Roy Nelson: Biologically? I'd have to lose muscle. That's one thing people don't pay attention to is like I wouldn't do a gastric bypass but I'd have to literally cut off my leg and I'd be a one-legged 205-er but I'd still do pretty good.

Luke Thomas: Before I let you go here, a couple more questions about the card itself. UFC 137, 9 p.m. It's gonna take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. I guess I'm looking for a prediction in the Cheick Kongo - Mitrione fight. Who do you like in that one? I know you assessed it earlier but can you make a prediction for us there?

Roy Nelson: That one's kind of a tough one. If Cheick Kongo goes out trying to strike with Matt, it could definitely go in Matt's favor. If Cheick Kongo goes and fights him like he fought Paul Buentello like a ground fighter then I think it could be short work for Matt Mitrione.

Luke Thomas: And then in the main event, who do you like in the main event, B.J. Penn - Nick Diaz?

Roy Nelson: That one is a toss-up. That one is, I really like both of them. I've known B.J. 10-11-plus years, Diaz probably just as long, nine years or so. I think that's just one of those fun barnburners. You don't know what kind of B.J. comes to the table and you know Diaz always comes to fight. It's gonna be a fun fight.

UFC 137's Matt Mitrione Teetering On Heavyweight Contender Consideration

2011-10-26T16:33:43Z

Matt Mitrione's got a mountain to climb this weekend at UFC 137 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And it's not the Spring Mountain Range, but rather the mixed martial arts equivalent of the French Alps: a hulking 6'4," 235-pound powerful Parisian striker with more than a decade of fighting experience under his belt with the name Cheick Kongo.

It's a tall order for the undefeated (5-0) former professional National Football League (NFL) defensive lineman who at 33 made a relatively late transition to the sport after the curtain dropped on his gridiron career. In fact, Mitrione has only two years of training to his credit, and began learning the ropes just six months prior to his appearance on Spike TV's 'The Ultimate Fighter' (TUF) in 2009.

Despite winning five consecutive fights to kickoff his latest career endeavor, four of which he finished early, Mitrione is under no false illusions he is an unstoppable, infallible force.

Complete Coverage of UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz

"To be honest with you, I'm still very, very raw," he recently admitted to MMA Nation in a quick conversation. "I feel very, very green. I've been able to learn a little bit and pick up a little bit, but I'm nowhere near the experience level that most of these people are. A lot of people have wrestling backgrounds or they had seven to 10 amateur fights before they got into the pro game. There is still a tremendous amount I still need to learn. I still screw stuff up all the time, on a regular basis. But, that's one thing I have to accept. I can't put the cart before the horse, knowing that I'm still green and am going to make mistakes."

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has been kind to Mitrione thus far, bringing him along slowly and building his star power, as well as his confidence, by booking him against decent but not spectacular competition such as Christian Morecraft, Tim Hague, Joey Beltran and, of course, Kimbo Slice.

Mitrione has kept up his end of the bargain, winning each time he steps inside the Octagon. But, in the UFC, no good deed goes unpunished, which means from here on out his level of opposition will likely only get stiffer.

"I've been successful, but I also haven't fought the creme de la creme, either," Mitrione explained during the recent UFC 137 "Countdown" show on Spike TV. "This one coming up against Cheick will be, by far, my biggest test. I'm excited about it."

Indeed, Kongo is just the start of bigger and better bouts for Mitrione, especially if he can replicate his success to date at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday evening. And do it impressively, in the high-profile, co-featured fight of the night. Shane Carwin was in a similar position not too long ago, beating guys like Christian Wellisch and Neil Wain before being fed to Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir.

That's a big leap in skill. A chasm between two peaks. One Carwin, who like Mitrione was a late MMA bloomer, was able to safely cross. However, the competition soon caught up with him in back-to-back losses to big cats like Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos.

"Yeah, it's a tough sport," Carwin explained in a recent interview with MMA Nation. "Right now you get thrown in there pretty fast. Even if you have a dozen or more fights, you're still trying to figure this sport out. By that time, if you're winning, you're probably already fighting elite guys. It's crazy."

The good news for Mitrione is that he isn't quite there yet. Kongo isn't a top 10-ranked fighter, according to the USA Today/MMA Nation Consensus Rankings, coming in at a very respectable number 13. However, keep in mind that's nothing to sneeze at, considering in the past three years Kongo has competed eight times, winning five of those contests.

His two losses during that span? UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez and former division kingpin, Frank Mir.

Mitrione is standing on the precipice of a potential "breakthrough" performance with a solid effort against an extremely formidable and established foe. He may not be a spring chicken, either, in the grand scheme of things, but his mind and body appear to be in perfect alignment.

"I'm 33, but that doesn't mean anything to me," he said. "I'm a young 33. I'm young in this game. I work enough, and I'm in shape enough -- my body is in the best shape than it's ever been -- so I might be 33, but I might as well be 24 in my head."

Let's remember, too, Mitrione does have talent, as well as above average natural-born ability and agility that have served him well throughout his athletic career. While his fight skills might now still be raw, they can also be very effective when unleashed.

"I got a big punch. I got athleticism. I got very quick hands. I got shins. And I got a damn good chin," Mitrione said during the aforementioned "Countdown" show. "I'm a different fighter every time I go out there. I've got aggression and athleticism that Check might not have ever seen in his life."

Mitrione now just needs a mountain-like win over a mountain of a man at UFC 137. If he can, rest assured the contender or pretender debate will likely be settled shortly thereafter.

UFC 137 Fight Card: The Nick Diaz Career Top Ten

2011-10-25T15:00:51Z

There's a good chance Nick Diaz will wow us Saturday night at UFC 137. The Strikeforce welterweight champion always seems to. Whether its extracurricular brawling, taunts galore, exotic submissions, or just plain excellence, Diaz never fails to delight. But whatever happens against B.J. Penn, it would have to be pretty special to supplant any of these moments from the Diaz highlight reel. Without further ado, let's run down Nick Diaz's top ten moments.

10. Nick Diaz versus Robbie Lawler

Lawler was the UFC's golden boy. To Dana White, he could do no wrong. People compared him to Tyson with a straight face. Leave it to the kid from Stockton to open up eyes. Diaz, a grappler by trade, stood toe to toe with the dangerous Lawler. Not only did he beat him at his own game, he talked a better game too. Although it was his second UFC fight, it was the first time fans got to see the real Nick Diaz.

9. Nick Diaz Shoots Frank Shamrock the bird

In his first run as an MMA champion, Frank Shamrock was the best fighter in the world. In his second run, years later for Strikeforce, Shamrock had to settle for being the best fight promoter in the game. He worked wonders building interest for fights with Phil Baroni and Cung Le. Diaz was no different. He just had to show up and be Nick Diaz: Shamrock would take care of the rest. The fight was a one sided beatdown. The build though? That was a thing of beauty.

8. Nick Diaz versus Karo Pariysan

Karo Pariysan's potential seemed unlimited. Before depression and drugs sidetracked a promising career, he had a series of great fights, including a beauty with Diaz at UFC 49. The grappling exchanges had to be seen to be believed and both men left the cage bigger stars than they entered it. A great fight.

7. Nick Diaz and the original post-fight brawl

Not to be confused with Nashville which Jason "Mayhem" Miller is determined to make sure no one ever forgets. This one went down in Hawaii after K.J. Noons spanked Yves Edwards in under a minute. Diaz, a Noons victim the year before, was looking for a rematch that Noons was loath to grant him. I described the melee for Total MMA (the web page, not the book):

Diaz hit the cage in pure heel mode. Noons was fresh off the best win of his career and in front of his home fans. When he flashed the double finger salute to Noons, things got a little out of hand. Even KJ’s old man got into the action. "I’m kind of disappointed that those antics overshadowed a great athlete like Yves Edwards," Noons said after the fight. "You train so hard for a title fight and then you’ve got this low class person coming in and talking trash."
When the dust settled, Elite XC had just hyped a new main event match.Diaz is the kind of fighter that draws a natural reaction, with a painted on sneer and a bad attitude. Noons is like the prototypical 70’s wrestling babyface. He’s probably got a great dropkick to go along with that pretty right hand. It’s the perfect matchup. So, of course, the MMA media hated it. Diaz interrupted one of those shows of mutual respect hardcore fans find so loveable and regular fans turn the channel on. It just kind of underscores an ever pertinent point: if MMA writers ran MMA companies, MMA companies would be run out of business. Heated feuds draw money.

6. Nick Diaz versus Diego Sanchez

Diaz spoke for a lot of UFC veterans when he criticized Sanchez and other products of The Ultimate Fighter. It's hard to imagine now, but there was the idea at the time that the reality television stars weren't real fighters yet and didn't deserve prominent roles in the suddenly thriving UFC. Sanchez flushed that notion down the toilet by beating Diaz in the cage.

5. Nick and Nate Diaz Sai Fight

I don't know what to say about this. It is a screenshot I captured from a YouTube video a few years ago. It is the Diaz brothers in a Sai fight. Seriously. I don't know why I would need to explain why that is awesome. It's the Diaz brothers in a Sai fight, "Street Fighter style" which Nate tells the camera means best of three. Screw that guy from the beer commercials: the Diaz brothers are the world's most interesting men.

4. Nick Diaz Fights Joe Riggs in a Hospital

A lot of people think Nick Diaz should have been awarded the decision over Joe Riggs after 15 hard minutes at UFC 57. But really - it's hard to care too much considering what was to follow. Both men left that night to go to the hospital. That's how grueling the fight was. But Diaz was undaunted. Hospital gown and IV be damned, he was getting one more shot at Riggs. It was the UFC's first hospital bout, a good idea for a gimmick match when times get tough.

3. Nick Diaz versus Takanori Gomi

You'd have to be high to invent the gogoplata. Wikipedia breaks the hold down like so:

The fighter then slips one foot in front of the opponent's head and under his chin, locks his hands behind the opponent's head, and chokes the opponent by pressing his shin or instep against the opponent's trachea

That's wild enough. Now imagine trying it on Japan's best fighter Takanori Gomi. It's the kind of stuff Craig and Smokey would dream of doing to Deebo. You'd have to be beyond high. Which, of course, Diaz was. After testing positive for marijuana, Diaz's epic win was turned into an official no contest. But it is still an epic win in the court of popular opinion.

2. Nick Diaz versus Paul Daley

The action encompassed everything possible in mixed martial arts - punches, elbows, knees and grappling all played major roles. But in the end it was heart and determination that proved the difference. Diaz was dropped twice by one of the hardest punchers in the welterweight division. Like a true champion he refused to let that stop him.

Yes, there is some question about an early stoppage. It's almost a shame "Big" John McCarthy stopped it when he did - because it looked like it was going to develop into an all-time classic. But that's what might have been. Let's celebrate the five amazing minutes we did get. One of MMA's unique fighters once again put his stamp on an event. Love him or hate him, Nick Diaz is a fighter like no other. I'm happy to have him in the sport.

1. The Brawl to top them All

Some people hated this, calling it a dark mark in MMA history. But a Gus Johnson reminded us all that these things, well, sometimes they happen. Jason Miller came into the cage after Jake Shields beat up an aging Dan Henderson to demand a repeat of a fight that put Chicago to sleep months earlier. He got a fight, just not the one he was asking for. Now Miller wants Diaz, who as you can see, had no problem with throwing hands with the Bully Beatdown host in the Strikeforce cage. Time will tell if the two men will ever do battle. I certainly hope so. Something good has to come out of that mess in Nashville.

UFC 137: Diaz Vs. Penn Preview On The Fight Fix

2011-10-24T15:46:55Z

This week on CSN Washington's The Fight Fix, I join host Dustin Green for a preview of this weekend's UFC 137 event. Green and I discuss what the loss of St. Pierre does to the pay-per-view buyrate, our picks for the major fights on the card and what the UFC can reasonably do to prevent major losses like this.

You can also see The Fight Fix at CSNWashington.com.

SBNation and Comcast SportsNet are proud to bring you The Fight Fix on BloodyElbow.com and MMA Nation every week.

Transcription:

Luke Thomas:

29 secs, how the loss of GSP will hurt UFC 137 financially: "Well, I think most of the tickets are already sold. I dunno if they woulda had a sellout or not. I think at the gate they'll probably be okay, but that's not where they make the most amount of their money. Where they make most of their money of course is on pay-per-view, and I shouldn't mince words, it's a devastating loss to lose Georges St. Pierre. If you believe Dana White, St. Pierre is the #1 pay-per-view draw in the company. That's arguable - I think Brock Lesnar might have him beat, but either way he's a gigantic draw. The reality is BJ Penn at one time, and probably still is, the most marketable, pay-per-view, sellable lightweight fighter. But after 2 losses to Edgar and fighting in Australia, I won't say he lost power, but he's certainly not at his peak. The rule is this: you can substitute great fights on a card - UFC 136 was a great fight card top to bottom and sold only 250,000 pay-per-view buys. There is no substitute for star power. Losing St. Pierre it's absolutely devastating. I think honestly at the high end, 450k would be a success for this card and that's a shame because St. Pierre at 129 had 850,000. He's capable of doing a lot. Last thing I'd say about it, it could well be that this is the 1^st year in a long time that the UFC has not had a single pay-per-view event go over a million pay-per-view buys. It's a little disconcerting."

1:55, on losing fighters to injury before big fights: "At some point, there's just nothing you can do, right? I mean mixed martial arts training it's difficult, it's long, it's arduous. You're dealing with so many different kinds of training that can put so many different kinds of stresses on the body. Wrestling training is not the same as striking training. It's not the same as jiu jitsu training. All of them are kind of differently geared towards the body and affect the body in different ways, so I that sense nothing. The other part of it I would say though is, you know you look back and you lost Georges St. Pierre on this card and, again, two weeks until the fight there's nothing you can do. Except, early in the year they passed up on an opportunity to do Rashad Evans vs Jon Jones. Jon Jones fought in September, Rashad Evans fought in August. A month a part and they couldn't make that work? That fight would have been an EASY million dollar pay-per-view event. They could've done maybe, I dunno what the camps would've said, but maybe they could've done St. Pierre vs Silva - a megafight. I think UFC fans, MMA fans, and really combat sports fans are thirsting for a superfight. Now listen, I'm not here to tell Dana White how to run his business. He knows better than I do. They're gonna put on 34 cards next year. All I would say is, and Dana White would not disagree with me when I say the following, you have to put on the fights that people wanna pay money to see. People don't wanna pay as much money to see Ortiz vs Evans as they do Jones vs Evans. When you get the opportunity, you strike while the iron is hot. That I think is the lesson going forward."

3:23, UFC 137 picks: "Main event: BJ Penn should not lose this fight to Nick Diaz. He;s better than Nick Diaz at everything, except cardio. Unless the fight moves to 5 rounds, that is not a fight BJ should lose. In the co-main event, it's Matt Mitrione taking on Cheick Kongo. Matt Mitrione should probably win this fight. I think Cheick Kongo at one point was a bit of a better striker, he may still be a cleaner striker, but I think Mitritone might be a little bit more durable. He's not as shop worn at this point as Cheick Kongo. I think the fight to look out for, the one I'm certainly interested in: Hatsu Hioki taking on George Roop. Hatsu Hioki is probably the last Japanese import or guy who fought on the Japanese scene who is highly ranked. That's a ranking I believe is grossly undeserved, which isn't to say he's not a talented fighter. He's an exceptional talent particularly on the ground, but I believe the upbringing in that market is slightly fraudulent. I believe George Ropp is a guy who is extraordinarily talented and has just the right kind of skill set to maybe, maybe give Hioki some problems - not so much on the ground, but keeping it standing. I think if Roop can beat Hioki, I think it says a lot about the degradation of that scene."

UFC's Roy Nelson Banking On The Beard

2011-10-21T16:36:26Z

UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson is hoping to defer criticism of his oft-expansive physique with his new expansively hirsute beard. Via NBC sports:

"My hair has grown out a little longer. My beard is a little longer. So definitely, we're going to see a different Roy Nelson. I just want to basically wow people with my beard, so definitely going for that. Everybody always talks about my weight, but that's throughout my whole entire life. It's nothing new. I'm sure everybody is going to talk about my weight next week, and then after my fight, and then my weight after that. It's just because people are mean. To me, I look in the mirror every day, my wife thinks I'm beautiful, so I'm going to say probably not (look different). I hope I just perform better. Looks are in the eye of the beholder."

Nelson is training for his upcoming UFC 137 bout against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic with Frank Mir, the man who beat him at UFC 130 in May.

UFC 137: Georges St. Pierre Suffered Two Injuries, Eyeing February 2012 Return

2011-10-20T16:26:59Z

Georges St. Pierre is no stranger to pressure. At the young age of 30, the Canadian is already considered an Octagon legend after having fought for the UFC belt eleven times in his decade-long career. Despite being criticized for a perceived lack of focus early on, St. Pierre has become a rock of mental stability since losing to Matt Serra at UFC 69. Yet nothing could prepare him for one of the biggest disappointments of his fighting life.

"I'm not going to lie, I cried," St-Pierre admitted to the Sportsnet. "I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight."

St. Pierre of course is referring to the injury heard around the MMA world -- a last second "moderate ligament strain" to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee that immediately derailed UFC 137. However, according to the champion, the MCL issue was actually the first injury he incurred and directly resulted in the second.

After the initial damage St. Pierre still had every intention of fighting, albeit with a much lighter camp workload. But those plans were put on hold on Tuesday when he injured his opposite hamstring compensating for the MCL. According to trainer Firas Zahabi, the harm came when St. Pierre sprawled away from a takedown attempt from a sparring partner. With debilitating injuries in both legs, St. Pierre had no choice but to relent to the wishes of his doctors and management team calling for a withdrawal.

"I knew (the injury) was bad but I thought I had the chance to be 100 percent the night of the fight if I trained light and conserved myself," St-Pierre thoughtfully explained. "But the reality was I was not able to recover (fast enough)."

Now that the damage has been done, St. Pierre has every intention of allowing the injuries to heal fully before returning to training. Luckily for the UFC, their pound-for-pound standout won't be on the shelf for too long. St. Pierre plans on sticking close to the original timetable, aiming for a return in early 2012.

"The recovery I want to do it well, I don't want to do it too fast. Because now I had an injury and I tried to train on it and maybe made it a little bit worse," he explained. "I would say maybe end of January, possibly the beginning of February ... Super Bowl, around this time."

Dana White's Unlikely Nick Diaz UFC 137 Gamble To Pay Off On October 29

2011-10-19T19:34:37Z

He didn't know it at the time, but Dana White packed his event-saving UFC 137 parachute back on Sept. 7, 2011, when he made the bold decision to replace Nick Diaz with Carlos Condit opposite Georges St. Pierre in the main event of the evening.

The drogue began to flutter yesterday, with the shocking news that "Rush" injured his knee in training and would be unable to punch Condit in the face inside that Octagon at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in less than a fortnight (Oct. 29, 2011).

With the pay-per-view (PPV) event so near, the promotion was forced to push the co-featured fight of the night, B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz, to the top of the marquee. St. Pierre and Condit will settle their score at a later date, most likely sometime in early 2012 when the Canadian is completely recovered from his boo-boo.

Meanwhile, in an ironic twist, Diaz is once again one-half of the headliner.

The same Diaz who looked White right in his face and lied to him six weeks ago, promising to meet his promotional obligations and then going AWOL and missing two very important, mandatory appearances. The same Diaz who reportedly missed four flights, costing the promotion $15,000 in travel expenses and untold amounts in production and marketing investments. The same Diaz "who obviously can't handle the pressure of a main event."

What a difference one "bad" medial collateral sprain can make.

Yet, what a fantastic storyline for White to now embrace. Clearly, the loss of the promotion's "biggest box office star" is going to hurt PPV sales and, ultimately, the bottom line on the Sunday after when Zuffa executives tally their Halloween-weekend haul.

But it could be worse.

Had White traveled down the practical path and booked Penn against another deserving contender not named Diaz, where would he be today, or next weekend for that matter. Penn and Diaz, friends and former training partners, apparently lobbied hard to avoid being locked inside a cage together for 15 minutes.

White not only resisted their overtures, but allegedly made them offers "they could not refuse," which flew in the face of conventional wisdom at the time. Throwing good money after bad on a fight that involved Diaz, as well as essentially giving him a mild spank, didn't make much sense ... or cents.

But in White's mind it was a gamble worth taking, a fight that would compliment a great main event and perhaps even be good enough to outshine it. Or maybe in the dark recesses of his brain, those that remember other recent championship catastrophes that have recently claimed big-money fights that involved Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones and Frankie Edgar, White knew that he had to pack a parachute for "Sin City" just in case.

Diaz, the star-crossed goat heading into UFC 137, now has the opportunity to emerge as the hero. And Dana White has a ready-made storyline in the can that he can gush about at the post-fight press conference when all is said and done.

He just needs Diaz to deploy.

UFC 137: After St. Pierre Injury, Jacoby Vs. Tavares Moved To Main Card

2011-10-19T16:08:09Z

Following the stunning injury to Georges St. Pierre, and subsequent removal of both he and Carlos Condit from the main event of UFC 137, promotion officials have been forced to reshuffle the October card. As a result, an undercard bout between middleweights Brad Tavares (7-1) and Dustin Jacoby (6-0) has been promoted to the main card. The announcement was made early Wednesday morning.

Tavares vs. Jacoby was originally part of the Facebook undercard and set to be streamed live on the popular social media site. Officials haven't indicated an intention of adding a replacement bout to the undercard just a week out from the event.

A popular member of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," Tavares hopes to rebound after suffering his first professional setback at the hands of Aaron Simpson in July. Prior to the unanimous decision loss, the 23-year-old compiled a seven-fight win streak to kick off his career, including UFC wins over Phil Baroni and Seth Baczynski.

Meanwhile, Jacoby looks to make a mark and keep his undefeated record intact with his first foray into the Octagon. The 6'4" former NCAA football player has run roughshod over the competition thus far in his career, finishing all six of his professional fights, with five lasting less than three minutes.

UFC 137 is scheduled for October 29th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada. B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz is the new main event.