Roy “Big Country” Nelson signed with Bellator MMA in May of this year joining the likes of Benson Henderson and Rory MacDonald. The signing once again proved that the biggest names in the UFC have no problem fighting for their rival if the conditions are right. Nelson was happy to sign with Bellator though and said that it was all about respect in the end.

“The biggest difference is being excited to go to work, I can’t wait for Saturday.” Nelson said to MMAfighting.com prior to his Saturday night fight with Ayala.

“There’s a big difference in my enthusiasm,” he said. “`Please’ and `thank you’ go a long way. Anytime someone says `please’ and `thank you,’ it means so much more than `just do this.’

“What brought me to Bellator was Scott Coker, Viacom and one of my good friends, Mike Kogan,” Nelson said. “I’ve known Mike for I’d say 10 years. And then there’s the new regime at the UFC. There’s a lot of things.”

“Actually, it was a super easy decision,” he said. “It was a no brainer. It had nothing to do with the offer. It had everything to do with `please’ and `thank you.’ That is appreciation. One of the things in marriage is you have to understand what appreciation is about, and that’ll keep me for longevity. That’s why my fans love me, because I appreciate them. Because with no fans, there would be no sport, no fighting for me, no UFC, no Bellator, no Rizin, there’d be nothing without the fans.”

It really helped that Bellator CEO Scott Coker has a stellar reputation among fighters, something not every promoter can say.

“The one thing about working with Scott Coker, I’ve never heard a bad thing about Scott Coker,” he said in an earlier interview with MMAfighting “And that means a lot, especially in our sport.”

“It’s just one of those things,” Nelson said. “Like, you know King Mo…to like Nick [Diaz] to Gilbert [Melendez]. Everybody that I know that’s worked with Scott never had a bad thing to say about him, and I’ve been doing this for such a long time, and I’m like, this is my chance to work with Scott, let’s do it.”

Nelson used a lot of MMA math to describe his opponent tonight Javy Ayala, but was very respectful in doing so.

“I can always fight the best in the world,” said Nelson. “I’m ready to fight the best guys. If he’s a new up-and-comer like Javy, the heavyweight division is all 30 years plus. He’s under 30. He’s the new breed. He knocked out Sergei Kharitonov, who knocked out Overeem, who beat Werdum, and Werdum was the baddest man and Sergei knocked him out (actually the win over Werdum was via decision). He should be No. 2 on the USA Today non-steroid rankings, because there’s a few steroid users out there.”

Nelson and Ayala didn’t take long to get started either. From the opening bell Ayala showed no respect to the UFC veteran and was connecting with heavy leather. “Big Country” was very composed though and was also landing hard shots of his own, even scoring a takedown towards the end of the round.

In the second round the action really picked up and Nelson really started to dominate Ayala on the ground. The round finished with Nelson pounding on Ayala against the fence.

The third round saw both guys landing hard shots early but it was Nelson who once again scored an easy takedown towards the middle of the round. He kept the pressure on Ayala and eventually passed his guard working from side control, ending the round landing hard shots to Ayala’s head.

Roy Nelson def. Javy Ayala via unanimous decision.