Denver’s UFC middleweight top contender Marquardt set to fight Feb. 6
By John Livingston | December 11, 2009
Nate “The Great” Marquardt, one of the UFC’s top middle-weight contenders and head of High Altitude Matial Arts in Aurora, Colo., has finally been given his next fight in the organization, and it comes against Chael Sonnen. The bout will take place February 6th in Las Vegas from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Marquardt, the seven time King of Pancrase, last competed at UFC 102 back in August when he faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia. The Great took just 21 seconds to knock Maia out after he delivered a huge punch that sent the Brazilian tumbling to the mat. It was Marquardt’s third consecutive win inside the octagon and was a performance that left many feeling that he was ready for another title shot, or at least a fight against another one of the top contenders in the division.
However, this was not to be as Dan Henderson, who was considered another top middle-weight contender, left the UFC for the Strikeforce organization after contract disputes with UFC president Dana White. With a title shot promised to Vitor Belfort against current champion Anderson Silva, many expected Marquardt to square off with Henderson to determine the next contender for the belt. Henderson’s departure put a huge wrinkle in the UFC’s plans and now Marquardt had no option but to accept the bout with Sonnen.
This is something Marquard himself admits he was reluctant to do. In a statement on his website Marquardt said:
“I thought I would get a title fight or a fight with Henderson, but neither fight was available, so I accepted the fight with Sonnen. Honestly I was upset at first. Why should I be fighting a guy that lost to Demian Maia three fights ago? After I thought about it a while, I changed my mind. Sonnen is a great wrestler with decent striking and I don’t want to wait to fight.”
Indeed Sonnen was Marquardt’s only option if he wanted to get back into the octagon soon. Belfort is now waiting for the champion Silva’s surgically repaired elbow to heal up so they can square off sometime in early 2010 and with no other top contenders Marquardt had to take whatever was available to help keep up his campaign for another title shot.
Marquardt faced the champion Silva back in 2007 and dropped the fight due to TKO (strikes). Marquardt’s fighting skills in the cage have greatly increased since his loss to the champ and he has put together five straight impressive performances with his only loss coming to Thales Leites in 2008. The loss was a controversial split decision and Leites found himself the victor only because Marquardt had several points taken away for illegal strikes. Marquardt dominated Leites and every opponent since his loss to Silva and he is clearly ready for another shot at the title.
To do that he will have to get through Sonnen first on Feb. 6th. Marquardt has been training the last few weeks with fellow Greg Jackson disciples Rashad Evans, welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, as well as fellow Colorado fighters Shane Carwin and Brendan Schaub. Marquardt certainly trains with some of the top guys in the world in mma and his training has produced great results in the UFC octagon, something he hopes to continue.
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