An MMA Thanksgiving: 2016 All-Turkey Team

Roy Nelson

Nelson committed a cardinal sin at a UFC Fight Night event on Sept. 24 in Brasilia, Brazil, where he put his hands -- more specifically, his foot -- on an official.

“Big Country” caught an Antonio Silva kick and floored his opponent with a counter uppercut in the second frame of their heavyweight bout. Nelson then landed four or five follow-up punches before referee John McCarthy halted the contest at the 4:20 mark. In the aftermath, Nelson pushed McCarthy in the rear with his foot and gave the veteran official the middle finger.

“I had John in my last fight. We talked about what’s considered damage. He doesn’t know what’s going on in MMA,” Nelson told Fox Sports 1. “That’s why when I actually, when I knew I hit a home run with ‘Bigfoot,’ I already knew he was out. I could have done the Mark Hunt and walk away and then hopefully he might stop it, but I stood over him, waited, waited, waited, and then I started throwing bombs and he let me throw just clean punches. Bigfoot’s my friend. I know he has a family to go to.”

According to UFC President Dana White, Nelson’s explanation for his reaction -- and subsequent apology -- did not justify his actions.

“You can’t apologize for that. You don’t ever, ever put your [expletive] hands on a referee -- or your feet -- for any reason what so [expletive] ever,” White said on the UFC “Unfiltered” podcast. “You don’t do it. He needs to be buried. He went over there and he put his foot on his ass to, like, push him over. He was flipping him off and yelling whatever. You want to flip a ref off [OK],[but] there is never a situation where you put your [expletive] hands on a referee, ever.”

White deferred to the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission to take action against one of the promotion’s most recognizable heavyweights.

“We’ll see how the athletic commission handles that, but he needs to be buried for that,” White said. “I’ve been traveling since the fight, so I haven’t seen what’s gone on. If the Brazilian Athletic Commission doesn’t rain on him, it’s not good. You don’t ever put your hands on a referee; I don’t care what the circumstances are. We don’t always agree with them -- we have our favorites, we have our least favorites -- the guy, whatever you feel about him, they’re there to keep you safe.

“This guy [Nelson] is the judge of when a fight should or shouldn’t be stopped? You’re a fighter; you go until the referee tells you to stop,” he added. “John McCarthy is very qualified in what he does. He’s been here a lot longer than [expletive] Roy Nelson, and for Roy Nelson to go over and put his [expletive] hands on a referee, it can’t happen. John is sitting there on his knees tending to Bigfoot and you come up behind him and kick him? It’s despicable; it’s disgusting. It can never happen ever again.”

Nelson was suspended for nine months and fined $24,000 by the Brazilian Superior Justice Court of MMA, which cited him for assault and unethical behavior.