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Roy Nelson "Big Country"

Inactive · age 50 · Orthodox · 6'0" 183 cm · 263 lb 119 kg · reach 73" 185 cm
At a glance
  • 89% of wins by KO/TKO
  • 67% of wins finished in round 1
  • 100% takedown defense in last 3 fights
  • UFC veteran since 2009
Elo rating
1494
Global Elo 1541 ±37
Rank
UFC record
9-10-0
KO 8 · Sub 0 · Dec 1
Streak
-1
Δ90d +5 · Δ1y +5
Last fight
Apr 15, 2017
Loss by Decision · R3
Career at a glance
Octagon time
3h 23m
Avg fight time
10:40
Title fights
1-0
Bonuses
7
Fights per year
2.6
Ground control
41m
Since last fight
9y 2mo

Honest Elo history

19 fights · tap & drag
Dec 5, 2009 — W vs Brendan Schaub Δ+41Mar 31, 2010 — W vs Stefan Struve Δ+36Aug 7, 2010 — L vs Junior Dos Santos Δ-23May 28, 2011 — L vs Frank Mir Δ-24Oct 29, 2011 — W vs Mirko Filipovic Δ+29Feb 4, 2012 — L vs Fabricio Werdum Δ-18May 26, 2012 — W vs Dave Herman Δ+16Dec 15, 2012 — W vs Matt Mitrione Δ+22Apr 27, 2013 — W vs Cheick Kongo Δ+20Jun 15, 2013 — L vs Stipe Miocic Δ-18Oct 19, 2013 — L vs Daniel Cormier Δ-18Apr 11, 2014 — W vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Δ+18Sep 20, 2014 — L vs Mark Hunt Δ-18Mar 14, 2015 — L vs Alistair Overeem Δ-18Sep 26, 2015 — L vs Josh Barnett Δ-12Feb 6, 2016 — W vs Jared Rosholt Δ+19Jul 7, 2016 — L vs Derrick Lewis Δ-15Sep 24, 2016 — W vs Antonio Silva Δ+16Apr 15, 2017 — L vs Alexander Volkov Δ-17 1460148015001520154015601580 2011201320152017 [{"i":0,"x":90,"y":307.1,"elo":1499,"date":"2009-12-05","opp":"Brendan Schaub","result":"W","delta":41},{"i":1,"x":121.1,"y":212.1,"elo":1534,"date":"2010-03-31","opp":"Stefan Struve","result":"W","delta":36},{"i":2,"x":155.6,"y":272.9,"elo":1511,"date":"2010-08-07","opp":"Junior Dos Santos","result":"L","delta":-23},{"i":3,"x":234.4,"y":336.9,"elo":1487,"date":"2011-05-28","opp":"Frank Mir","result":"L","delta":-24},{"i":4,"x":275.6,"y":258.5,"elo":1517,"date":"2011-10-29","opp":"Mirko Filipovic","result":"W","delta":29},{"i":5,"x":301.9,"y":305.7,"elo":1499,"date":"2012-02-04","opp":"Fabricio Werdum","result":"L","delta":-18},{"i":6,"x":331.9,"y":262.3,"elo":1515,"date":"2012-05-26","opp":"Dave Herman","result":"W","delta":16},{"i":7,"x":386.3,"y":204.7,"elo":1537,"date":"2012-12-15","opp":"Matt Mitrione","result":"W","delta":22},{"i":8,"x":421.9,"y":152.1,"elo":1557,"date":"2013-04-27","opp":"Cheick Kongo","result":"W","delta":20},{"i":9,"x":435,"y":199.9,"elo":1539,"date":"2013-06-15","opp":"Stipe Miocic","result":"L","delta":-18},{"i":10,"x":468.8,"y":247.9,"elo":1521,"date":"2013-10-19","opp":"Daniel Cormier","result":"L","delta":-18},{"i":11,"x":515.4,"y":199.9,"elo":1539,"date":"2014-04-11","opp":"Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":12,"x":558.8,"y":247.6,"elo":1521,"date":"2014-09-20","opp":"Mark Hunt","result":"L","delta":-18},{"i":13,"x":605.6,"y":296.4,"elo":1503,"date":"2015-03-14","opp":"Alistair Overeem","result":"L","delta":-18},{"i":14,"x":658.1,"y":329.5,"elo":1490,"date":"2015-09-26","opp":"Josh Barnett","result":"L","delta":-12},{"i":15,"x":693.8,"y":278,"elo":1510,"date":"2016-02-06","opp":"Jared Rosholt","result":"W","delta":19},{"i":16,"x":734.5,"y":317.7,"elo":1495,"date":"2016-07-07","opp":"Derrick Lewis","result":"L","delta":-15},{"i":17,"x":755.6,"y":274,"elo":1511,"date":"2016-09-24","opp":"Antonio Silva","result":"W","delta":16},{"i":18,"x":810,"y":319.3,"elo":1494,"date":"2017-04-15","opp":"Alexander Volkov","result":"L","delta":-17}]

Last fights

Elo-based expectation · not betting advice
Date Opponent Result Δ Elo
Apr 15, 2017 Alexander Volkov L -17
Sep 24, 2016 Antonio Silva W +16
Jul 7, 2016 Derrick Lewis L -15
Feb 6, 2016 Jared Rosholt W +19
Sep 26, 2015 Josh Barnett L -12

Performance

SLpM Significant Strikes Landed per Minute. Higher = busier striker.
Strikes Landed
L1L3L5
Str Acc Striking accuracy: significant strikes landed / attempted. Higher = more efficient striker.
Strike Accuracy
L1L3L5
SApM Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute. How often opponents land on this fighter. Lower is better.
Strikes Absorbed
L1L3L5
Str Def Share of opponent’s significant strike attempts that miss or are blocked. Higher is better.
Striking Defense
L1L3L5
TD / 15 min Takedowns landed per 15 minutes (one full 3-round fight). Measures wrestling output.
Takedowns
L1L3L5
TD Acc Takedowns landed / attempted. Higher = cleaner entries.
Takedown Accuracy
L1L3L5
TD Def Share of opponent takedown attempts stuffed. Higher = harder to put on the mat.
Takedown Defense
L1L3L5
Sub / 15 min Submission attempts per 15 minutes. Counts attempts, not just finishes — a proxy for grappling aggression.
Submission Attempts
L1L3L5
Ctrl / 15 min Control time in seconds per 15 minutes. Time in dominant grappling positions. 240 = 4 min, the realistic high-end across divisions.
Control Time (sec)
L1L3L5
KD / 15 min Knockdowns landed per 15 minutes. Counts every flash KD even if the fight continued — measures stopping power across all rounds, not just finishes.
Knockdowns
L1L3L5
Above division avg (intensity ∝ how far)
Near avg (±10%)
Below division avg

Finishes

How wins come Finish rate = (KO + Submission wins) / total UFC wins. Measures how often this fighter closes the show before the scorecards.
89%
8 / 9
Finish rate
KO
8
89% of wins
SUB
0
0% of wins
DEC
1
11% of wins
KO: 8 (89%) 8 Sub: 0 (0%) Dec: 1 (11%) 1
Finishes by round
8 total
R1
6 75%
R2
1 13%
R3
1 13%
R4
R5

Striking profile

Where significant strikes land — by target zone and by position. 439 landed total · career

Targets head · body · leg
78% Head
  • Head 78%
  • Body 12%
  • Leg 10%
Positions distance · clinch · ground
72% Distance
  • Distance 72%
  • Clinch 19%
  • Ground 9%

Durability

How they're beaten How fights end AGAINST this fighter. Finished-against rate = (times KO'd + submitted) / total UFC losses. A low rate means they rarely get stopped.
10%
of losses by finish
1 of 10
1 KO/TKO 0 Sub 9 Dec Never submitted

Strength of schedule in UFC

Avg opp Elo (last 5) Average Elo rating of the last 5 opponents this fighter faced. A proxy for schedule difficulty — 1700+ is elite-level competition, 1500 is a UFC average opponent.
1568
UFC level
Quality wins (1600+) Wins over opponents rated 1600+ Elo at the time of the fight — clearly above the ~1500 UFC average, contender tier. A count of genuine quality results, not record-padding.
3
of 9 UFC wins
Toughest win The highest-rated opponent this fighter has a win over, by that opponent's Elo at fight time.
Matt Mitrione
Elo 1619 at fight time
Expected wins How many wins an average fighter would be expected to have against this exact schedule, based on pre-fight Elo win probabilities. The line below shows whether this fighter is over- or under-performing their matchups.
9.3
−0.3 wins below what this schedule implies
Opponent Elo over career · 19 UFC fights, oldest → newest
1500
1532

Top heavyweight

See full rankings →
Source Raw fight data and per-bout statistics come from Roy Nelson on UFCStats →. Elo rating, uncertainty bands, and division-relative analytics computed by HonestElo — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.