Nate Marquardt was an interested observer of the Aug. 8 Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen middleweight title fight that is likely to be remembered as one of UFC’s all-time classic matches.
Most, including Marquardt (32-9-2), expected that he would be the one in the cage with Silva that night, not Sonnen, since Marquardt was the favorite in a Feb. 6 fight with Sonnen to determine the top contender. But like Silva, Marquardt had trouble blocking Sonnen’s takedown and aggressive top game.
Marquardt made a strong comeback in round three of one of UFC’s most exciting fights of 2010. He left Sonnen with a nasty cut on his forehead that ended up delaying his title opportunity.
Most, including Marquardt (32-9-2), expected that he would be the one in the cage with Silva that night, not Sonnen, since Marquardt was the favorite in a Feb. 6 fight with Sonnen to determine the top contender. But like Silva, Marquardt had trouble blocking Sonnen’s takedown and aggressive top game.
Marquardt made a strong comeback in round three of one of UFC’s most exciting fights of 2010. He left Sonnen with a nasty cut on his forehead that ended up delaying his title opportunity.
Unlike Silva, he couldn’t pull the fight out at the finish. So the veteran middleweight knows his goal of working his way back into title contention is likely to involve facing one or both men who have wins over him.
“I saw holes that can be exploited on both of them,” he said about the fight that Silva, having lost the four previous rounds, won with a triangle from the bottom in round five. “It was a great fight. It went almost exactly as I thought Sonnen did a get job of taking him down and giving him a lot of punishment from the top. The thing that surprised me the most is how well Sonnen did on his feet.”
Marquardt’s first step of the climb back up takes place on Wednesday night in the main event of a UFC Fight Night show that airs live on Spike TV from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX, when he faces Rousimar Palhares (20-2), a dangerous jiu-jitsu specialist.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 118 last month in Boston. But the UFC moved the fight when injuries caused the top of the Austin show to have to be remade. The snake-bit original lineup of Alan Belcher vs. Demian Maia and Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman ended up with three of the four fighters on the shelf with injuries.
Marquardt vs. Palhares was considered a good fight for the Boston pay-per-view event, but it was only No. 4 on the pecking order with B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar, Randy Couture vs. James Toney and Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian. It instead becomes the headline fight of the cable card.
“I remember my manager called and asked me if it was okay (that UFC wanted to move the fight back two-and-a-half weeks),” said Marquardt. “I thought it was great. Going from just a match on the card to being in the main event was huge. I was really happy.”
“But there’s a lot more responsibility of being in the main event. I’ve done about 100 interviews, but that’s good for building my career.”
“I saw holes that can be exploited on both of them,” he said about the fight that Silva, having lost the four previous rounds, won with a triangle from the bottom in round five. “It was a great fight. It went almost exactly as I thought Sonnen did a get job of taking him down and giving him a lot of punishment from the top. The thing that surprised me the most is how well Sonnen did on his feet.”
Marquardt’s first step of the climb back up takes place on Wednesday night in the main event of a UFC Fight Night show that airs live on Spike TV from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX, when he faces Rousimar Palhares (20-2), a dangerous jiu-jitsu specialist.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 118 last month in Boston. But the UFC moved the fight when injuries caused the top of the Austin show to have to be remade. The snake-bit original lineup of Alan Belcher vs. Demian Maia and Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman ended up with three of the four fighters on the shelf with injuries.
Marquardt vs. Palhares was considered a good fight for the Boston pay-per-view event, but it was only No. 4 on the pecking order with B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar, Randy Couture vs. James Toney and Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian. It instead becomes the headline fight of the cable card.
“I remember my manager called and asked me if it was okay (that UFC wanted to move the fight back two-and-a-half weeks),” said Marquardt. “I thought it was great. Going from just a match on the card to being in the main event was huge. I was really happy.”
“But there’s a lot more responsibility of being in the main event. I’ve done about 100 interviews, but that’s good for building my career.”
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