By Chris Howie
October 8th, 2008




There have been quite a few bad stand ups, stoppages, and calls from referees in the MMA ring or cage in the sports time but one of the worst stand ups in the history of the sport occurred Saturday night on EliteXC: Heat live on CBS.

Roy Nelson was working for a kimura lock submission from side control against Andrei Arlovski during the first round of there bout, when what seemed like out of no where, the referee stood the fighters up, thus shifting momentum in favor of Arlovski on his way to a KO victory in the second round.

In this MMANews.com exclusive interview, Chris Howie talks with Nelson about the fight and his thoughts on what transpired.


Chris Howie for MMANews.com: What were your thoughts on the fight and how things did or didn't work out for you?

Roy Nelson: Alright I guess. [laughs]

MMANews.com: Let's go back to the first round of the fight, you are working a kimura and while clearly in the dominate position the referee stands you and Arlovski up, what were you thinking at that time?

Roy Nelson: It was the first fight I've ever had where I was in a dominate position, working for a kimura, and in side control...then the ref did what he did and it is what it is and I can't really change it. To me, I was in a good position, I could pass the guard and I was working all the moves to a submission that I wanted to. Then the ref took it out of my hands. It was like being in the playoffs and the ref is calling bad fouls (basketball) or they call something stupid like a fair catch (football). When the ref is doing things like that it is basically like you are not fighting one person in the ring, but two. It will never happen again but it was one of those things that really screwed with my head but that is not to take anything away from Andrei.

MMANews.com: Did it kill the momentum you were building?

Roy Nelson: I'd say so. It went from fighting one person to two.

MMANews.com: Do you feel there is a lot of inconsistency when it comes to calls like that?

Roy Nelson: Usually the refs are good but that is the first time I've met that ref (Jorge Ortiz). I think Troy (Waugh) would have been a better ref to have than the one I had (Ortiz). He is more of a veteran when it comes to fights like that. When it comes to the ref they need to know what the styles are and they should at least know what a kimura lock is. Everyone knows what an armbar is and if I had have been on the bottom and was working on that they wouldn't have broken it up and they wouldn't if I had of had a rear naked choke.

MMANews.com: Have you had a chance to watch the fight since Saturday?

Roy Nelson: Dude, I've watched that fight like twenty times.

MMANews.com: You can hear Ortiz telling the two of you that you need to improve your position but you can also see that you are working on that kimura by throwing knees to the body and waiting for the right time to really tweak the arm, did you feel he was talking to you or to Arlovski?

Roy Nelson: He was like "you gotta move, you gotta move", it was like he didn't give a crap about what was going on. I would have assumed that he was talking to Andrei but I guess it was me.

MMANews.com: Did you feel Arlovski was laying in wait for the stand up?

Roy Nelson: He was waiting for a lot of different things. He kept it cool when I was going for the key locks. I wanted to make a move that would really tie him up. In Jiu-Jitsu you are wearing down your opponent and being stronger than your opponent while you are trying to catch him. That is what was going on. I went for the first key lock but I wasn't actually going for it, I was trying to make him scramble so I could go to side control. In side control I had it and I was throwing knees. I looked up at the clock and seen there was 2:25 left in the round and I thought to myself "...this is a longggg time for some grappling...", then I let go of his hand for a second and the ref stood us up.

MMANews.com: Could we see a rematch at some point down the road?

Roy Nelson: That is the first thing I did when I stood up, I asked Andrei if we could do it again sometime and he said "yes".

MMANews.com: Where do you feel you go from here?

Roy Nelson: I think with Affliction, they have their own little agenda and they want him to fight Fedor (Emelianenko). If Andrei doesn't go to the ground he actually has a good chance against Fedor. I think for me, they just put me up against him. They didn't think I actually had a chance. As I learned over the last week that went by it kind of changed things. After talking to Andrei's guys they told me they had been "stalking" me and watching tape on me for the last three weeks. I'm thinking to myself "I found out about this last week so how did you guys already know about this."

MMANews.com: So Affliction let Arlovski in on this plan two weeks prior to you finding out about it?

Roy Nelson: They told me last week and from talking to Andrei's camp, they were scouting me for the last three weeks so he obviously knew about it.

MMANews.com: Do you feel this was a small setback for you with the fight being on CBS?

Roy Nelson: Not really because if you actually watch MMA you know who won the first round. I don't want to take anything away from Andrei but I was working that submission and the ref didn't let it go any further. I won the first round and in the second round I got put to the ground and the ref called it.

MMANews.com: Do you feel it was a bad stoppage?

Roy Nelson: I'm not going to argue or complain about that. I can understand it but that stand up shouldn't have happened. If the ref is going to stop a fight though I want to see the guy come down on me and beat the crap out of me so I can see some blood and get smashed.

MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on rules changes?

Roy Nelson: Yes and no. The whole cut thing though, its one thing to get cut but if you need stitches it changes to a whole different avenue you can take going into a fight. With Ken, I can't say. I'm not a doctor. It was just one of those things.

MMANews.com: When Ken had to pull out of the card due to the cut did EliteXC come to you at any point to fight Kimbo?

Roy Nelson: No, I spoke to my attorney and he put it out there for me. I was joking around and said I would fight Kimbo as a warm up and fight Andrei later.

MMANews.com: Do you think they may have looked at you and thought you would have been too dangerous?

Roy Nelson: Oh yeah, and they thought they were going to pull one over on Seth to. He was fighting as a light heavyweight. Seth was just like "no way" and put and end to that. But like Kimbo said "It is what it is." That's really all you can say about it. It really is what it is. Next time he'll just go out there and give it his all with his hands up. As long as you grow from something like that and get up and get back on the horse and ride it till you can't anymore.

MMANews.com: Have you followed up on any of the news since the show?

Roy Nelson: No not really.

MMANews.com: Have you heard about Petruzelli hinting at the fact EliteXC paid him extra to not take Kimbo down only to go back on it later in the day and say he meant it differently?

Roy Nelson: I've heard on a bit on that but if he is retracting he is just trying to make sure he had a job later. If it was the case, I wouldn't put it past anyone, but it is politics. Kimbo was their workhorse so they have to try and keep him protected. I'm not saying they would have did that for Seth, but I wouldn't put it past anyone.

MMANews.com: You have been getting a lot of support over the last few days regarding the stand up. What are your thoughts on that?

Roy Nelson: If you watch MMA than you know that was a bad call. If you are a ref you need to know what the positions are. He needs to be able to see a choke or an armbar or a kimura. If you have no idea what is going on, you shouldn't be reffing.

MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on the Florida Commission and their refs?

Roy Nelson: Well, look at it this way, I've seen your vote not even count in a presidential election in Florida, so you never know.

MMANews.com: When might we see you back in action?

Roy Nelson: Hopefully in January. I'm hoping to get Paul Buentello so it will be a good bangers fight so it will be good for the fans.

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