Roy Nelson Explains Why He Kicked Referee 'Big' John McCarthy | MMAWeekly.com

Veteran heavyweight Roy Nelson scored a knockout win over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on Saturday on the UFC Fight Night Brasilia main card, but what he did after the fight overshadowed the victory.

Nelson dropped Silva with a right uppercut and swooped in with a follow-up shot that connected clean, followed by another. He paused, expecting referee “Big” John McCarthy to step in and stop the fight. He delivered three more before McCarthy called a halt to the action. As McCarthy was kneeling down explaining to Silva what happened, Nelson walked over and lightly kicked him in the derriere.

“When I hit Bigfoot, I already knew I knocked him out with my first punch, and then I got him one more time. In my head, it was like so slow-mo,” said Nelson during the event’s post-fight press conference. “I’m friends with Bigfoot, and he has a family. I don’t need to keep punching him in his face.”

Nelson says that he didn’t kick McCarthy and characterized it as a “push.”

“It was a push. It was more like, dude, come on,” Nelson explained.

RELATED >VIDEO: Roy Nelson Kicks ‘Big’ John McCarthy for Late Stoppage of ‘Bigfoot’ Silva

McCarthy, as he always does with the fighters who’s bouts he’s refereeing, met with Nelson backstage to explain his expectations and answer any question the fighter or their camp may have.

“I had a conversation with Big John in the back about doing his job,” said Nelson during his backstage interview following the fight. The two also debated the stoppage inside the cage during the bout and again before the official result was read.

“He was over to my side. I know I had a conversation. I’m like, ‘he’s out,’ and he’s like, ‘no, he’s not. Keep on moving.’ For me, I feel like I’m giving Bigfoot extra damage where he doesn’t actually need to get hit that much,” said Nelson.

“And then we had a conversation in the cage. I was like, ‘dude, he was knocked out.’ He was like, ‘no, he wasn’t,’ and I’m like, ‘I know what a knockout is.’ I knock people out. That’s what I do for a living. I know what a knockout is,” Nelson continued.

“I didn’t want to hurt Bigfoot more than what I had to. I got taken from the moment. I apologized to Big John, but I wouldn’t take it back. It just hurt me that I’ve got to keep on hitting a guy that doesn’t need to be hit,” said Nelson. “The referee just did a late stoppage.”

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