Age is just a number to Roy “Big Country” Nelson.

Every 39-year-old professional athlete fields questions about retirement, but as Nelson prepares for his 32nd mixed martial arts bout, he is more excited about getting into the octagon and challenging for the UFC heavyweight championship.

“Usually, if you’re in the top 15 you’re always two fights away [from a title shot]. You could be No. 15 and you could be fighting for the belt in two fights,” Nelson (20-11) told TSN.ca.

“I think it’s more about depending on where you are and who you’re fighting … how bad you get beat up or if you beat somebody up. It’s one of those things that I think there’s a lot that goes into thinking about that ending.”

Retirement questions are often performance-based late in a career. Nelson has lost four of his last five fights, including his first knockout loss in the UFC against Mark Hunt in September 2014.

Nelson believes he still has so much to offer to the sport - more than just his world-famous mullet, beard and gut that makes him look more like a hunter than a pro athlete.

The former International Fight League heavyweight champion is heralded for his vicious overhead right hand, which has claimed many victims, cardio a man of his stature shouldn’t possess and the ability to take punishment others would crumble against.

"The one thing about being in our sport and being an entertainer is, do you want to be loved or do you want to be hated?"
Roy Nelson, UFC Heavyweight

“My skill set definitely helps me because a lot of people think I get hit clean but I don’t get hit clean at all,” he said. “It’s the one thing about the heavyweight division, if you get hit clean you should get knocked out and that’s usually what happens.”

Nelson is on the giving end of knockouts more often than not and you would be hard-pressed to find a fighter more entertaining. Win or lose, Nelson consistently puts on a good show for the fans.

From his debut on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights in 2009, which he won, to six post-fight bonuses in 14 UFC appearances, the Las Vegas native has made it a point to never disappoint when he steps into the cage.

“The one thing about being in our sport and being an entertainer is, do you want to be loved or do you want to be hated?” he said. “If you’re loved then you’ll always be a legend in their eyes and you can always have job security, even after your fights.”

But as he said before, he’s not thinking about life after fighting.

For now, he’s focused on former heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and their main event at UFC Fight Night 75 in Saitama, Japan on Saturday.

Nelson is fighting in Japan for the second time in three fights, but the 37-year-old Barnett (33-7) can claim home advantage having spent five years fighting in the country with multiple organizations, including PRIDE and K-1.

Roy Nelson

“Japan is definitely Japan,” Nelson said. “I’m more comfortable with this one. I’ve definitely traveled down here and am now finding the different quirks and things to basically have a more normal life.”

His first fight in Japan ended with the knockout loss to Hunt; however, recent memories will not force Nelson to change his game plan.

“You plan around your skill set and you plan around their skill set and you execute what you think you’ll be more beneficial at and what he’ll be less beneficial at and you try to put him there and give him the opportunity to quit,” he said. “That’s the whole fight game. It’s what’s going to make them want to quit?”