TUF 16's Roy Nelson will fight Shane Carwin then forget about him like everyone else

It's been 16 months since former interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has seen any action inside the Octagon, but, for the most part, most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are still aware of his dangerous existence.

Right?

Maybe that's not the case, according to Roy Nelson -- who will face "The Engineer" at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 16 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 15, 2012 -- who seems to think (via Bloody Elbow) that everyone has forgotten about Carwin.

Here's a snip:

"You know, I've never butted heads with him. I've never headbutted him either [laughs]. The conversations we've had have been, 'Thank you', 'Yes sir', 'No sir', things like that. Shane Carwin is the former UFC champion. He's the greatest thing. I love that guy. I think he's awesome. I have no ill will toward him. The thing is, I don't really think about Shane Carwin. He's not in my everyday life. I am gonna fight him, and then I'll forget him, just like everybody else has."

Despite not having any fights for quite some time, Carwin has kept himself in the spotlight thanks in large part to his gig as a coach on this season of TUF.

Grooming the next flock of aspiring UFC stars alongside Carwin for three months, "Big Country" says the time spent coaching side-by-side with his next opponent has been pretty cordial. However, after their heavyweight showdown, the pudgy pugilist plans on erasing him from his memory much like everyone else seems to have done.

With a potential loss to Nelson later this year, which would mark his third consecutive defeat with the promotion, Carwin might also find himself in danger of becoming a distant memory on the UFC roster.

Then again, if Dan Hardy made the cut after suffering four defeats in a row, there is a pretty good chance Zuffa officials would hang on to the heavy-handed hulkster win, lose or draw, too.

If the injury-prone heavyweight can make into the Octagon on fight night, of course.