Maybe I'm just a contrarian by nature, but I like Roy Nelson just as he is. I think the guy has learned to use his bulk to his advantage in the ring (or cage.) He's got decent cardio, decent standup and a great ground game. He manages his own career, sets up his own fights, and trains at home. He tells it like it is, even when talking about The Dana and the refs. I'm officially a fan.
I don't really dislike Kimbo, either. I'm not gonna hold him accountable for being a hypocrite, as I've been there myself. But I do think he is 'unteachable,' as Bas Rutten said, but not because of attitude but rather lack of aptitude. I've trained people like that - no matter how many times you demo something, they just never get it.
People say with the right trainers, with the right team or this or that, but the truth is he's been in MMA for a few years now. He should at the very least have the basics of grappling down, know how to sprawl, etc, and he appears to still have very little knowledge of these basic fundamentals.
I expect the UFC to run with him the same way EliteXC decide, despite Dana's whining and complaining about their antics before they folded. They'll bring in cans to fight Kimbo, guys they know will keep it standing, and unfortunately for them some of those guys will end up KO'ing the new cash cow.
It's a sad state of affairs, but emblematic of our current culture, that a guy with no real fighting ability is the 'face' of MMA because he is a scary-looking black guy.
