roy nelson ufc 159

Roy “Big Country” Nelson got a nine-month suspension and $24,000 fine for kicking referee “Big” John McCarthy following his KO of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC Fight Night 95 in September. Nelson considers Silva a friend and felt McCarthy took too long to stop the fight, so he gave “Big” John a slight kick with his foot while he was tending to his downed opponent.

Now for the first time “Big” John has shared his thoughts on the incident in a new interview with Bloody Elbow:

“Truthfully the whole thing comes down to I didn’t know. I had no idea I got touched, kicked, I got bumped inside of the cage, and that’s all I knew, and I was busy talking to Bigfoot Silva. Roy had an opinion, that I don’t agree with, he didn’t agree with mine. He later came out and said ‘well maybe. Maybe he wasn’t as hurt as I thought’ because he said he was knocked out, he was not knocked out. You know. It’s Roy’s business not to sign the contract to fight someone if he thinks he’s a friend. Not mine.”

UFC President Dana White came out after the kicking incident saying that Roy’s actions were “despicable” and that “he needs to be buried”.

Nine months on the sidelines for the 40-year-old Nelson is a pretty big deal at his age when every opportunity to fight matters. Add $24,000 to that and it adds up to one expensive kick for releasing his frustrations on McCarthy.

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