5 UFC heavyweights who were more skilled than their physique suggested

#4. Roy Nelson – former UFC heavyweight contender

Roy Nelson was often criticised for his physique, but rarely struggled inside the octagon due to it

Rising to fame in the MMA and UFC world after winning the IFL heavyweight title in 2007, Roy Nelson’s physique was often used as a stick to poke him with. However, the truth is that despite his prominent gut, ‘Big Country’ was, for a time, one of the world’s most dangerous fighters.

While at one point it looked like Nelson would go ignored by the UFC, he eventually made his way into the octagon in 2009 via the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

It was during the reality show that he rose to instant fame, as he faced off with – and comfortably defeated – internet sensation Kimbo Slice in his first fight, proving that he didn’t need to boast huge muscles in order to dismantle his opponents.

From there, Nelson continued to prove his doubters wrong, first by winning the season of TUF by knocking out Brendan Schaub. He then following that with wins over fighters such as Stefan Struve, Mirko Cro Cop and Cheick Kongo in the UFC proper.

Nelson’s physique did continue to draw criticism at times, most notably from UFC president Dana White, who never saw eye to eye with ‘Big Country' and often accused him of not taking his career seriously enough.

However, while it’s true that his conditioning failed him on occasion, this was usually rare. For the most part, Nelson’s low center of gravity and added weight often helped him in the octagon, allowing him to hold larger fighters than him down. Of course, he always packed huge punching power in his hands.

Overall, ‘Big Country’ may not have physically looked like a top-level fighter, but for a time, there was no disputing his spot near the top of the UFC.

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#3. Josh Barnett – former UFC heavyweight champion

Josh Barnett was always far more skilled than his physique suggested

It’s a little-known fact that the reason that the Unified Rules of MMA, followed by the UFC and the majority of the promotions in the US, has a 265-pound cut-off for the heavyweight division is because larger fighters are allowed to compete at super-heavyweight, which has no such limit.

Of course, due to a dearth of fighters willing to compete above the limit, particularly at the top level, most high-end promotions don’t put on fights at super-heavyweight.

The UFC is no exception, but the MMA leader did put on a single fight at super-heavyweight back in 2000 at UFC 28. The fight in question pitted Gan McGee against future UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett. Barnett came into the fight at just under 260 pounds and certainly didn’t look all that svelte despite impressing in victory.

‘The War Master’ would drop to heavyweight for his next four UFC bouts, culminating in his UFC heavyweight title victory over Randy Couture. However, he never boasted a bodybuilder-like physique, instead appearing to be out of shape entirely at times.

However, that was never really the case, as Barnett was powerful, surprisingly quick and possessed excellent cardio for a fighter of his size.

‘The War Master’ left the UFC in 2002 after a failed drug test, meaning he never defended his heavyweight title, but he did return to the UFC for a second run in 2013, defeating Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and Andrei Arlovski.

Unsurprisingly, nothing had changed during that run, either. Barnett still looked soft in comparison to the majority of his opponents, but it didn’t make him any less dangerous in the octagon.