UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson doesn't think former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko or current UFC titleholder Cain Velasquez qualifies as the best heavyweight fighter ever—but it's nothing personal, because he doesn't think anyone else does either.
Speaking with FOX Sports, "Big Country" explained why the term "greatest of all time" shouldn't apply to heavyweight mixed martial artists:
I don't think there's actually a greatest heavyweight. I think with every heavyweight there's a style that makes for a different fight with different fighters. Styles always make fights and everybody always has a number.
Sometimes you have a bad day, sometimes you don't. ....
The best example would be (Junior) Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. The first time they fought, Cain got flattened. There's another two times where Cain made up for it, learned from his mistakes, had a bad day.
Although the legendary "Last Emperor" compiled an incredible 28-fight unbeaten streak between April 2001 and November 2009, Emelianenko's true talents are subject to debate after going 1-3 under the Strikeforce banner and never competing under the UFC banner.
Additionally, Cain Velasquez, 13-1 overall, is 4-0 since suffering a knockout loss at the hands of JDS at UFC on FOX 1 in November 2011. Two of those victories came in rematches against Dos Santos, both of which he won handily.
Nelson, who boasts a respectable 20-9 record overall, has won four of his last six fights, with all of his victories coming by way of knockout.
However, despite an above-average level of success inside the Octagon, the portly power puncher hasn't had anything to offer upper-tier heavyweights such as Dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier.
While he lacks a signature win, a decisive victory over Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan on Saturday certainly couldn't hurt his standing in the UFC's 265-pound division.
The heavyweight tilt at the infamous Saitama Super Arena headlines Saturday's event and on paper promises to be a classic slugfest between two of the division's hardest hitters—who also possess a couple of the most powerful chins in the weight class.
Does Nelson make a valid point regarding the heavyweight landscape in the fight world, or does his argument make little to no sense?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
