Monday Morning Hangover: Roy Nelson knocked out for first time in UFC career by Mark Hunt

Another action-packed weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC Fight Night 52 blew the roof off the Saitama Super Arena this past weekend (Sat., July 20, 2014) in Saitama, Japan.

Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Rin Nakai -- who saw her undefeated streak come to an end at the hands of Meisha Tate (recap). And Takanori Gomi -- who was knocked out by rising lightweight, Miles Jury (read it).

But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover now less than 48 hours removed from the show?

Roy Nelson.

The bearded-brawler looked to make it two wins in a row by taking out the second PRIDE FC legend in as many fights (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira being the other) as he took on perhaps the only other heavyweight on the UFC roster that can match his knockout power, Mark Hunt, in the so-called "Battle of the Bulge."

But just like he did in his last trip to "The Land of the Rising Sun," Hunt did what he does best by wowing the crowd with another walk-off knockout win.

Initially, Nelson was hanging tough against the former K-1 striker in the opening stanza. "Big Country,"  a jiu-jitsu black belt, even took "Super Samoan" down in round two, a place Hunt didn't want to go as six of his eight losses have come via submission.

Roy, however, couldn't do much once on the mat, as Hunt brought it back to the feet rather quickly. Soon thereafter, Hunt found his mark as he landed a clean uppercut that connected right on Nelson's kisser, sending the pudgy-pugilist to the canvas face-first (see it).

The uppercut was there for the taking all night for Hunt, who obviously caught on to Nelson's habit of ducking low throughout the bout. It was only a matter of time before he got caught.

The impressive knockout win was a perfect way for Hunt to begin his new six-fight deal with UFC and his road to the title before closing the curtain on his storied mixed martial arts (MMA) career. But contrary to popular belief, Hunt is not the first man to lay Nelson clean out, as Andrei Arlovski did it six years ago under the Elite XC banner.

The loss is a crushing blow for Nelson's title aspirations, as it will likely send him tumbling down the rankings; pretty much ending all hopes of his much-desired title fight against division champion Cain Velasquez, a man he recently took the time to rag on.

Not even Don King can make that fight happen now.

Still, despite the loss, Nelson has plenty left in the tank and the talent to cause some havoc in the land of the giants.

A fight against Antonio Silva, who recently got his clock cleaned by the aforementioned Arlovski, will be a good bounce back bout for "Big Country."

And for "Bigfoot," as well.