Roy Nelson's mistake

While Nelson's strategy basically guaranteed a win, it also was a major screw-up. Roy took part in one of the top five most-watched MMA fights ever. And he looked boring and lost on his feet (to me), despite his display of technical mastery on the ground. So basically when given the big stage, he opted for safety, and he had the balls to complain about not making money. Seems like he shipped away a lot of money, for himself, and MMA fighters in general.
It's his career, and what he wants is a win, and to win the tournament, and win every time he steps in the cage. But bitching about his money, and taking the least exciting path to win (for the people just tuning in. For the record I thought some of the clinch work on the cage was pretty exciting), well, that sounds stupid. You have to take chances if you want to grab the brass ring. It comes down to this: will Roy Nelson be more famous if he wins TUF, or if he'd put on a crazy war with Kimbo in front of over 6 million viewers?