After flatlining Dillon Cleckler earlier this year, Roy Nelson will compete for the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight title next month.
The ever-popular “Big Country” has raked in nearly one million views on Youtube alone after his highlight reel KO of Cleckler went viral back in May, the biggest moment in the fledgling promotion’s history to date. Nelson, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 10 as a heavyweight and a longtime UFC (and later Bellator MMA) veteran, had been considered a possibility to face the winner of this weekend’s Junior Dos Santos vs. Fabricio Werdum.
Instead, he’ll take on fellow UFC ex-pat and ex-BKFC standout Alan Belcher. Jorge Masvidal, the man behind Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA, announced the news on Wednesday during an appearance on The MMA Hour.
The fight will see the promotion, which features the Unified Rules of MMA minus gloves, venture outside its home base in Florida, hitting up the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, MI on October 28, 2023.
No other fights have been announced for the event thus far.
Belcher (18-8), who competed as a middleweight in the UFC, put together a 5-0 record as a boxer and 4-0 record in bareknuckle boxing since leaving the octagon behind. That includes winning the BKFC heavyweight championship in his last fight for the company. He was later stripped of the title after pursuing a boxing match.
Nelson (24-19) competed for the first time in nearly three years when he defeated Cleckler this past May. In addition to being the TUF 10 champ, he held heavyweight gold in the now-defunct International Fight League (IFL).
