Roy Nelson stands out as something of an anomaly in a world defined by chiseled physiques, strict diets and merciless physical demands. “Big Country” will celebrate his 40th birthday on June 20.

Nelson rose to mainstream prominence inside the International Fight League, where he became the doomed promotion’s heavyweight champion in 2007. Two years later, the Ultimate Fighting Championship cast the Las Vegas native on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series. Nelson was the last man standing in the 16-man tournament, defeating Kevin Ferguson, Justin Wren, James McSweeney and Brendan Schaub en route to capturing the “six-figure” UFC contract. He has compiled an 8-8 record inside the Octagon -- a run that includes wins over former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 2006 Pride open weight grand prix winner Mirko Filipovic, Stefan Struve and Matt Mitrione.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, Nelson sports 18 finishes among his 21 career victories, 13 of them inside one round.

Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of June:

JUNE 1

Miodrag Petkovic (47)
Michael Buchkovich (39)
Wendell de Oliveira Marques (33)
Patricky Freire (30)

JUNE 2

Chris Haseman (47)
Matt Serra (42)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (40)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (40)
Christian M’Pumbu (39)
Roan Carneiro (38)
Tatsuya Mizuno (35)
Eduardo Bustillos (29)
Christopher Wing (28)

JUNE 3

Jason MacDonald (41)
Linton Vassell (33)
Vernon Ramos (24)

JUNE 4

Tonya Evinger (35)
Michael Johnson (30)
James Krause (30)

JUNE 5

Brian Warren (42)
Ricky Turcios (23)

JUNE 6

David Bielkheden (37)
Xavier Siller (22)

JUNE 7

Chris Wilson (39)
Saad Awad (33)
Ryan Bader (33)
Michael Kuiper (27)
Mark Burns (25)

JUNE 8

Dan Severn (58)
Marvin Eastman (45)
Hirotaka Yokoi (38)
Noad Lahat (32)
Tim Roman (31)

JUNE 9

Dion Staring (38)
Jim Hettes (29)

JUNE 10

Cyrille Diabate (43)
Brendan Tierney (41)
Luiz Azeredo (40)
Hiroyuki Takaya (39)
Nordine Taleb (35)
Walt Harris (33)

JUNE 11

Tsuneo Kimura (34)
Daron Cruickshank (31)
Artur Kadlubek (31)
J.J. Aldrich (24)

JUNE 12

Andy Ologun (33)
Ali Bagautinov (31)
James Chaney (29)
John Lineker (26)

JUNE 13

Daniel Aguiar (36)
Greg Rebello (34)

JUNE 14

Claude Patrick (36)
Danny Martinez (31)
Chris Barnett (30)
Anatpong Bunrad (30)
Amador Ramirez (26)

JUNE 15

Kevin Casey (35)
Joe Stevenson (34)
Ryan Keenan (31)
Gabriel Benitez (28)

JUNE 16

Rich Attonito (39)
Daria Ibragimova (32)

JUNE 17

Kuniyoshi Hironaka (40)
Chris Weidman (32)
Xiao Yang Liu (25)
Luan Chagas (23)

JUNE 18

Assuerio Silva (42)
Matt Baker (32)

JUNE 19

Chris Seifert (47)
Savant Young (40)
Mike Swick (37)
Ann Osman (30)

JUNE 20

Roy Nelson (40)
Marion Reneau (39)
Quinton Jackson (38)
Alex Caceres (28)
Logan Nail (27)

JUNE 21

Marcos Oliveira (38)
Erick Silva (32)
Jake Lindsey (30)

JUNE 22

Randy Couture (53)
Ryushi Yanagisawa (44)
Brian Bowles (36)
Hiroshi Izumi (34)
Bethe Correia (33)
Douglas Silva de Andrade (31)
Dave Morgan (31)
Bradley Scott (27)
Taila Santos (23)

JUNE 23

Charles “Mask” Lewis (1963-2009)
Rob Wince (43)
Marcos Galvao (35)
Nick Thompson (35)
Paul Ruiz (29)
Mark Striegl (28)

JUNE 24

Jessamyn Duke (30)
Brendan O’Reilly (29)

JUNE 25

Yoshihiro Nakao (44)
Alexey Oleinik (39)
Luciano Azevedo (35)
Carlo Prater (35)
Marcelo Guimaraes (33)
Marcos Rogerio de Lima (31)
Rob Font (29)
Jung Gyeong Lee (28)
Andre Fili (26)

JUNE 26

Pawel Nastula (46)
Virgil Zwicker (34)
Eddie Wineland (32)
Faith Van Duin (30)

JUNE 27

Yoshinori Suzuki (35)
Joe Taimanglo (32)

JUNE 28

Sam Hoger (36)
DaMarques Johnson (34)
Brennan Ward (28)
Johnny Case (27)

JUNE 29

Shin Kochiwa (36)
Ryo Kawamura (35)
Mike Whitehead (35)
Cody East (28)
Jimmie Rivera (27)
Rose Namajunas (24)

JUNE 30

Fabiano Scherner (44)
Gilbert Yvel (40)
Katja Kankaanpaa (35)
Dan Miller (35)
Zach Makovsky (34)