Roy Nelson waiting on knee, Lesnar before agreeing to Carwin fight

By Brett Okamoto

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 | 1:46 p.m.

UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson confirmed to the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday that the organization is looking to set him up against Shane Carwin at the UFC 125 event Jan. 1 in Las Vegas.

Nelson, however, added he's not ready to commit to any deal at this time, as he has not resumed training since undergoing knee surgery in August.

"I really don't know yet," said Nelson, on whether he'd take the fight in January. "My knee is not 100 percent yet. I'm still in physical therapy.

"Right now, (January) probably seems a little too soon."

While Nelson (15-5) went on to kid he'd fight anybody at any time, bad knee or not, it's unlikely he'll accept his next bout until he feels completely healthy.

Winner of the tenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," Nelson is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Junior Dos Santos on Aug. 7, his first setback in the UFC.

Nelson says his biggest motivation right now is to get back in the title picture.

He also admitted he'd like to wait for the results of the heavyweight title fight between champion Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez on Oct. 23 before agreeing to a deal.

"If Brock Lesnar loses I'd like to fight him next," Nelson said. "My knee would be healed up by then because he likes to take a little time off between fights.'

"But anything that puts me back in title contention is the biggest thing."

Reports of the potential meeting with Carwin hit the Internet hard Tuesday, but according to Nelson it's not the only matchup the UFC has expressed interest in.

Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira also was brought up as a potential opponent. Nogueira had been scheduled to face Frank Mir at UFC 119, but was forced to pull out because of injury.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting