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Roy Nelson spars during open workouts for UFC 143 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 | 11 a.m.
Roy Nelson is staying in the UFC’s heavyweight division for now.
UFC officials confirmed Wednesday that Nelson (16-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC) will meet Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (16-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in heavyweight action at UFC 146 on May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Las Vegas native looks to break out of a recent 1-3 skid at the event headlined by Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. Nelson recently fell to Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision at UFC 143.
Following the loss, “Big Country” made a bet with a friend that could result in him trying to lose enough weight to fight in the light heavyweight division. Nelson promised he would 'try' to make the 205-pound weight limit if he could add 100,000 fans on his facebook page.
“Just weighed myself (at) 264 pounds,” Nelson tweeted Monday, “going to the gym just in case I lose this bet.”
The wager will have to wait until after he welcomes Silva to the UFC. “Bigfoot” comes to the UFC after a five-fight run in Strikeforce.
He went 3-2 in the promotion, notably defeating Fedor Emelianenko by second-round TKO in February 2011 as a 5-to-1 underdog. But a first-round knockout loss to Daniel Cormier followed the momentous victory.
Nelson vs. Silva, which is the ninth bout announced for UFC 146, will likely take place on the pay-per-view portion of the card. Tickets to the event are scheduled to go on sale March 30.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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