UFC Update: Is Roy Nelson’s Contract In Jeopardy?

While a fight between Brock Lesnar and Roy Nelson would have been an interesting proposition, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever get to see it anytime soon.  According to UFC President Dana White, Nelson ‘s standing with the UFC is on hold indefinitely.

The major issue has to do with a contract that Nelson signed last year prior to him joining the cast of the season 10 installment of The Ultimate Fighter. The contract was initially for “Big Country” to take part in an MMA/Boxing hybrid show which was run by Squared Ring Promotions.

The fledgling promotion, which is owned by boxing legend Roy Jones, Jr., ran an event in March 2009 called “March Badness” where Nelson fought Jeff Monson in a decision loss. According to White, the contract with Squared Ring still ties Nelson up for additional fights which would thus conflict with any engagements that the UFC could set up for the former IFL champ.

The state of contract purgatory doesn’t really affect the UFC’s agenda; Nelson, 34, needs to use some of the prize money that he has earned to hire some high quality lawyers and get something worked out ASAP.

Make no mistake, Dana White is not a big fan of Nelson simply because of his sloppy physique and laid back attitude toward fighting, so this additional entanglement that Nelson’s got him into certainly won’t win him any additional bonus points with White. The overall dilemma that Zuffa would need to deal with, would be the fact that Ultimate Fighter winners are guaranteed three year, 9 fight contract; hence if Nelson’s legal troubles go beyond the contract time frame, then do they still owe him? Time will tell what lies down the road for “Big Country”.