Nelson vs. Volkov

This is the official discussion thread for Nelson vs. Volkov. Let's see what you've got.

Big Country meets the former Bellator champ.

You just know the UFC brass are itching to cut Big Country if he loses here.

Why do you think that?

I think maybe cause Roy has a really big mouth (no pun intended).I remember him on TUF,he was unbearable and honestly came off like an idiot,not acting like an idiot,but a really dumb person.He couldn't understand some very simple stuff.I forgot the incident/s but it was laughable at how dumb he was.Iirc he also gives or gave the UFC brass a lot of issues in the past,but I don't really remember the issues,I tend not to pay attention to that stuff.He seems very hard to work with.

My first thought was Roy should beat him, but 40 years old vs 28 years old definitely makes me think twice. 

Yea, prime Roy knocks him stuff. but Roy lost speed. He use to be deceptively quick. He does not have that same speed and does not seem able to land with the same authority or find it target as often. Still can win by knock out, but he in my opinion has lost a step. I am still leaning towards him however.

Roy may resort to using wrestling to hold Volkov down. Also I really don't think UFC cares if a former Bellator guy wins, I would actually think they would prefer it over Roy.

If UFC cares about Bellator fighters winning in their org, why did they give Alvarez a title shot when he was 2-1 with both wins being ugly, dull, and close?

I wouldn't call winning 2 fights "running the gauntlet" in a division where guys with no name outside UFC like Khabib and Ferguson have gone on some of the longest win streaks in company history without getting a title shot.

@mikey, eh? 

What gauntlet did Eddie run though exactly. He came in saying he was the best in the world and wanted to fight for the title ASAP. Who would they have him fight? Kevin Lee?

He fought top 10 gatekeepers in Cerrone and Melendez (most definitely not the hardest fights in the 155 top 10) and super obvious Kryptonite Pettis. Not an easy path to the title (should paths to the title be easy?) but most definitely not a gauntlet.

Eddie was treated much better than most of the UFC fighters who have come up through the ranks (and rightfully so, he built his name with blood, sweat and tears). Lombard was also primed to be a UFC star by the promotion and he's the one that dropped the ball / wasn't good enough and now Minakov is getting an over the hill Roy Nelson whom he's perfectly built to beat. Again, who would you have an ex-Bellator champ fight? He's getting the division's ultimate top tier gatekeeper. Everyone who's good enough to contend beats Roy, everyone who's not good enough loses to him. Perfect fight for a prospect you have plans for.

Please show me that ex-Bellator fighter the UFC have been bias against because I'm having a hard time finding him.

By the way, I agree with you that the UFC don't like Bellator, but since they usually pay a tad more to Bellator crossovers than other fighters because they've already built a name for themselves, do you think they'd do that only to break them down just to spite Bellator?? That's just bad business.

* Edited at 03.15.2017, 3:39 AM ET *

I think they'd like to have good reason to cut him because a) Dana has always disliked him and b) he is neither a superstar or a cost effective nobody which is all the UFC seem to want at the moment

@Yossgold ... and what about David Branch, he says he is the best in the world as well. However, he is not getting a Donald Cerrone caliber fight in his return to the UFC, like Eddie did. He is getting Jotko, a dangerous opponent, but not the caliber of fight that Eddie got in his debut. Branch comes from WSOF. I'd say is a more comfortable fight for Branch than Eddie's fight when he came from Bellator. I kind of see Mikeyg's point.

@Kinsalsa, David Branch is also not getting paid anything close to what Eddie signed for.

But that's besides the point, all I'm saying is that I haven't exactly seen any ex-Bellator fighters treated badly or given a hard time just because they were from Bellator.

Eddie wanted a fast track to the title and that's what he got. His path there wasn't the hardest one you could find either. 3 tough fights that prove you're worthy of a shot (and he only needed to win 2 of them to get his shot). If anything he was treated much better than many other UFC-grown stars.

* Edited at 03.15.2017, 12:02 PM ET *

If you actually could provide some evidence or multiple examples that UFC has shown some bias against Bellator fighters in general then you might have something. At this point you have made a wild accusation and offer no evidence to support your claim.

You haven't shown instances where it's implied bias. Just because you say it's implicit doesn't mean you don't have to show evidence.

@mikey, agree to disagree is fine by me of course.

I just don't see why you think it was getting hateful, I felt like it was a good discussion where we both put our points up and I feel I just asked legitimate questions to try and understand where you're coming from, not in an attempt to discredit your opinion. 

If you felt aggression on my part, it wasn't my intention.

* Edited at 03.16.2017, 4:23 AM ET *