UFC: Is "Big Country" Roy Nelson the "Next Big Thing?"

When I first heard the term "next big thing" in sports, I admit it was with the WWE debut of a physically impressive former amateur wrestler from Minnesota named Brock Lesnar.

He was being built up as this hulking menace of a man who was not only powerful, but athletic as well, but as time went on, Lesnar's desire to be in pro wrestling faded.

He left the WWE in the spring of 2004, and from there I'd heard a thing or two about Lesnar wanting to try out for the Minnesota Vikings or something like that.

I forget the position he was going for, but I know that didn't last long.

Fast forward to Feb. 2, 2008, the night Lesnar debuted and lost to Frank Mir.

As much as most MMA fans will remember the outcome of the fight, I remember the hype for Lesnar's UFC debut pretty clearly as well. Most people knew that Lesnar had only one fight under his belt, yet some thought he could be the next big thing in MMA.

Now, he's the champ.

Shane Carwin, the man who will face Lesnar at UFC 116 on Independence Day weekend, had really no victims of note on his hit list before his UFC 96 encounter with Gabriel Gonzaga.

However, he had a first-round knockout, and some people started to believe that Carwin should get the next crack at the UFC Heavyweight belt, and he almost did before it had surfaced that Brock had diverticulitis.

If none of us had known that Lesnar was battling an illness, or that Carwin had to have some surgery himself, Mir may not have been the most recent victim of Mr. Carwin.

Still, I think people started considering Carwin as the "next big thing" after Lesnar with his win over Gonzaga.

Same thing with Cain Velasquez before he even faced Minotauro Nogueira. Velasquez was seen as a hot prospect, who could have what it takes to be the next big thing in MMA.

Before the Cheick Kongo fight, he had no problem living up to that perception.

The Kongo fight raised doubts about Velasquez due to the fact that Velasquez had gone three rounds with Kongo, though a win over Ben Rothwell began to lower those doubts slowly.

The win over Big Nog reinstated Cain as a guy who could still be MMA's next big heavyweight.

Junior Dos Santos is fast on that path now, with impressive KO wins over Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel, and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Dos Santos has yet to tap in the UFC, and he's yet to lose by knockout. Cigano is slowly becoming a young heavyweight phenom with each victory.

This brings me to the man who faces Dos Santos at UFC 117.

"Big Country" is the nickname by which you and I know Roy Nelson.

The man with the Buddha belly and a powerful couple of fists, who won TUF 10 for Team Rashad and the next man in line for Dos Santos.

Nelson was slated to be next in line for Kongo at UFC 116, but Kongo had to pull out due to an injury, so Junior filled in for Cheick as a replacement.

Someone's getting knocked out for sure in that fight, but that's another story.

When I look at Dos Santos vs. Nelson, I see two guys who are unquestionably going places no matter what happens at UFC 117—and for both men, those places will be very good ones near the top of the UFC's heavyweight ranks.

The gut-wrenching thing about it is that only one can get in line for Lesnar.

Now, if you ask me who I think wins this one, I'd say, "I like both guys, and I think it's anybody's fight, but I'll go Dos Santos on this one."

I hate to go against Nelson after the way he seemed to just embarrass Kimbo Slice on last season's Ultimate Fighter, but I think for every bit of a threat that "Big Country" poses, Dos Santos poses just a little bit bigger of a threat.

"A little bit bigger of a threat"...sound familiar?

Think Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga.

Think Big Nog vs. Velasquez.

Think Carwin vs. Mir, or maybe Mir vs. Tim Sylvia.

Think about fights like the previously stated heavyweight fights, and any others in the heavyweight division of the UFC, in which one fighter was "a little bit bigger of a threat" to his possibly overlooked opponent.

Think about them for a minute...and then remember how those fights ended.

The person who lost wasn't the guy we all thought was going to lose.

People did think Nogueira could have beaten Velasquez. People definitely thought Cro Cop could have beaten Gonzaga.

And I'm sure someone that reads this thinks Nelson can beat Dos Santos. I wouldn't doubt either man by KO or TKO, but there's nothing wrong with a guess here and there.

My guess just happens to be that Junior Dos Santos will beat Roy Nelson.

Still, the time comes when you think rather negatively about one fighter or his chances against the guy he's fighting, and by the end of the fight, you begin to realize that maybe you shouldn't have been too negative about that one guy who you were less than willing to cheer on.

It's happened with everyone, and it's been done with at least one fighter in each of the five UFC weight classes.

That's how these "next big thing" type of fighters have emerged, though.

You have young guys or new guys in the MMA scene, some with 10 fights, some with five fights, guys like Kimbo who came into the UFC with only four fights, or guys like Lesnar who came into the UFC after only one fight, or even guys like Matt Mitrione who basically started their careers during The Ultimate Fighter.

You have these guys, you put them up against a more experienced guy or someone that you think is going to destroy this "new face" or this "young face" of the division...and the much younger guy or the less experienced guy in the fight just surprises you.

Lesnar did it with Randy Couture, Carwin did it with Gonzaga and Mir, Velasquez did it with Nogueira, Dos Santos did it with Cro Cop, and even though I'll back him against Nelson at UFC 117, Big Country could do it with Dos Santos.

Not only surprising people with a knockout of Dos Santos, not only putting himself in contention for Brock Lesnar, but if Roy Nelson beats Junior Dos Santos at UFC 117, Big Country could be the next heavyweight to earn the title of "Next Big Thing" in the UFC.

If he does, one thing is for certain: Some of us won't see it coming.