Roy Nelson vs. Mark Hunt: Novelty Fight or Real Implications?

Roy Nelson vs. Mark Hunt will happen at UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama, Japan this Saturday, Sept. 20. 

Isn't that just fantastic? Roy Nelson vs. Mark Hunt. This is a dream matchup for fight fans, featuring two big-bellied, goofy, carefree heavyweights who could punch holes through sheet metal (and that's just their jabs!). 

When looking at this bout on the surface, it's easy to get lost in the fighters' appearances and their reputations as one-shot-stopper knockout artists. Add in their quirks—Roy Nelson proudly rubs his massive belly after a big win and walks out to Weird Al Yankovic's "I'm Fat"; Mark Hunt recently claimed he got cut by the UFC on Twitter before claiming he was just fussy because he couldn't eat carbs—and it's even simpler to forget what's really at stake in this matchup.

Yes, it's a novelty fight in a sense. In today's UFC, the top heavyweights don't carry around flubbery guts and sport hilarious mullets. When Nelson takes on Hunt in Japan, we'll see plenty each. 

Scratch the surface and squint your eyes a little, however, and you'll find more. You'll find two legitimate top-10 heavyweights looking to crack the upper echelon of the division and to establish themselves as challengers to the UFC heavyweight strap. 

That distinction is well earned. 

Just four years ago, Hunt entered the UFC riding low on a five-fight losing streak, making his promotional debut at UFC 119 against another interesting cat in Sean McCorkle. The 6'7" journeyman snapped Hunt's arm with a straight armbar just one minute into the fight, five straight losses became six, and it looked like the New Zealander would never really matter in the ever-deepening UFC heavyweight division. 

But somehow, against all odds, Hunt did matter—he mattered big time. He bounced back from the McCorkle loss, rattling off four straight victories, three via ferocious knockout. Suddenly, the big man was challenging former heavyweight champion and top contender Junior dos Santos in a marquee heavyweight tilt at UFC 160. A win here and Hunt would probably challenge the victor of the night's main event, a rematch between Cain Velasquez and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (spoiler alert: Cain mauled him...again.). 

Hunt would eventually fall to dos Santos in dramatic fashion, getting knocked out in the third and final round by a perfect spinning hook kick. Despite this, many fans and critics left the fight impressed by the former K-1 standout. No, he did not prove himself ready for the title, but he showed he could find some success against the top dogs in the division. Lasting more than two rounds with dos Santos is a considerable achievement, one that lesser men failed to accomplish inside the Octagon on numerous occasions. 

After a Fight of the Night performance against Bigfoot in his most recent bout, Hunt is back in title talks. Ranked sixth in the division, he's just one big win away from a No. 1 contender's bout, and Nelson will happily take his hand and hit the dance floor to see who deserves to take the leap more. 

For his part, Nelson has been quietly doing his thing since winning Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC commentator Joe Rogan loves to gush over Nelson's black-belt skills in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but the tubby heavyweight has shown but one significant weapon inside the cage: his remarkable overhand right. 

Nelson wings this punch with conviction, notching multiple knockout wins throughout his UFC career with this attack alone, including his most recent victory over legendary heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC Fight Night: Minotauro vs. Nelson. 

While "Big Country" has lost five times inside the Octagon, it's important to note his competition and to understand the fact that he was finished precisely zero times in those fights. 

Not a bad list, huh? Three (Werdum, dos Santos, Miocic) are still top-five heavyweights. One (Cormier) is the No. 1 contender at light heavyweight and would undoubtedly still be top five at heavyweight and one (Mir) was in the middle of a championship run when he defeated Nelson. 

Put him against lesser competition, and the results are devastating. All seven of Nelson's UFC victories came via knockout, and Hunt just finished tying his dancin' shoes. 

As Nelson strolls to the floor to greet him, we'll quickly find out who is a legitimate contender in the division and who will be doomed to a career knocking out inferior foes and losing hard-fought battles against the division's elite. 

You can call this fight a novelty fight based on appearances and the "fun factor" alone, but you'd be wrong. This fight will see one gargantuan heavyweight finally find his footing and burst upward onto the top floor of the division, pulling up a chair alongside dos Santos, Werdum, Browne, Miocic and Barnett.

And he'll have earned it.