Nelson’s ascent gaining speed

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even when Roy Nelson was winning fights in less than a minute at the Orleans Arena and making a mockery of the heavyweight division of the now-defunct International Fight League, it looked like a long climb to the pinnacle of the mixed martial arts world.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the sport's biggest organization, showed little interest in the local product, even though Nelson was rolling through opponents at every stop on the minor league circuit.

In fact, UFC president Dana White wasn't sold on Nelson even while he was cruising to the Season 10 title on "The Ultimate Fighter," the organization's reality TV show.

"I always knew he was good and had potential. I didn't know he'd ever make it to having a shot at the title," White said. "I wasn't overly impressed with him, but I've been very impressed with him since he's been off the show."

After winning "The Ultimate Fighter" title with a first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub, Nelson knocked out Stefan Struve in 39 seconds to quickly climb the heavyweight rankings.

Nelson, 34, will fight Junior dos Santos on the UFC 117 card Saturday at Oracle Arena for the next shot at the UFC heavyweight title. The winner will fight the winner of the Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez fight, which is scheduled for October.

Nelson said he is not surprised by his success.

"As a fighter, you're either good or you're not. If I thought I wasn't the best in the world, I'd probably be fighting in another organization," he said.

The Cimarron-Memorial High School graduate has carried that confidence through his years toiling in smaller promotions. He has always believed he was the best in the business regardless of where he was fighting.

While success has come quickly in the UFC, Nelson thinks he's on a deliberate path.

"Winning 'The Ultimate Fighter,' I figured I was going to come out of the house and knock on Brock's door and say, 'Hey, are you ready?' But I have to take my baby steps first," Nelson said. "I was a star on the (reality show). My next fight, I was a co-main event. That's very rare for an Ultimate Fighter deal. Now I'm on a pay per view fighting for a No. 1 contendership, so I think I'm doing OK."

At the same time, Nelson downplayed the importance of the bout for him personally.

"There's not really that much on the line. If it was like a bigger contract or something like that, than, yeah, there'd be something definitely on the line," he said. "It's kind of like football. You get paid the same regardless.

"At the end of the day, it's just a fight. First, you've got to get the (win) before you can start going, 'I can't believe this is happening.'

The common belief is that for Nelson to win Saturday, he will have to take dos Santos to the ground. Nelson is a strong wrestler and a jiu-jitsu black belt, and dos Santos has been a knockout machine.

Nelson said a fight is never that simple.

"I try to be prepared for everything. If I go in and I'm just going to wrestle, and he knows I'm going to wrestle, it's going to be an easy fight for him because it's not that hard to stop a takedown if that's all you're planning on doing," he said. "You've got to mix it up. You've got to threaten to punch. You've got to hit somebody in the face.

"I plan on giving him what he's going to be scared of. Who's scared of getting taken down? It doesn't hurt."

Dos Santos, a 25-year-old Brazilian who is 5-0 with four first-round knockouts in the UFC, seems to think he knows Nelson's precise plan.

"I think he's going to try to fight stand-up at first, and then when he feels that he can't stay standing up with me, he's going to try to put me down," dos Santos said.

Dos Santos calls winning the belt his "dream," and was thrilled when he found out the winner of his bout would be next in line for a title shot.

"I saw when Dana said it in an interview, I felt happy. All fighters fight to be No. 1," dos Santos said. "That's my objective, and I'm very happy for it."

The card, which airs live on pay per view at 7 p.m., features Anderson Silva defending his middleweight belt against Chael Sonnen in the main event.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.