UFC 146: If Roy Nelson Loses to Antonio Silva, Should UFC Cut Him?

At UFC 146, the UFC will have it's first ever all heavyweight Pay Per View card.

The main event features the heavyweight title fight between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.

The co-main event is a No. 1 contender match between former champion Cain Velasquez and another former champion, Frank Mir.

Then, just before that fight, Roy Nelson will face off against one of four men to ever defeat Fedor Emelianenko—Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.

Roy Nelson won season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter when he knocked out Brendan Schaub at the finale.

Since that time, Nelson has gone 2-3, earning knockouts over Stefan Struve and Mirko Cro Cop, and dropping decisions to Junior dos Santos, Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum.

Nelson lost his most recent fight, against Werdum, at UFC 143, and some are questioning whether or not a loss to Antonio Silva would be the end of Roy Nelson's UFC road.

However, even if Nelson loses to Silva, he does not deserve to be cut from the UFC.

With a loss, Nelson would be 3-4 in the UFC, and would, in essence, become the gatekeeper of the heavyweight division.

He has lost to the top fighters, and has beaten the lower tier fighters. And Nelson has shown he has one of the toughest chins in all of MMA.

He took huge shots from Junior dos Santos and was the first person to go the distance with him. He took huge shots from Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum as well.

If Nelson loses to Antonio Silva, there is no way that he should be cut from the UFC.

The fans still want to see him, and he could realistically drop to light heavyweight if he were given no other option.

Then again, he could win the fight, and all of this talk could be moot.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on twitter @TimMcTiernan.