MMA is funny sometimes. You’re only loved when you win, yet people say that a fighter’s true colors show after they lose. Nate Marquardt has lost the last two fights that were considered the biggest fights of his career, but don’t count him out.
The first time that Maruqardt fought Anderson Silva at UFC 73, he was overwhelmed by the man who knocked Rich Franklin out as if Franklin was a contestant on “The Ultimate Fighter”.
That loss is probably the best thing that happened to him at the time because it showed him that there was another level that he needed to get to if he wanted to be the champion and believe me, Marquardt has ALL the tools to get to that level.
Unfortunately, he had to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 109 in order to get another shot at Silva. Not many people gave Sonnen a shot even though he had beaten the likes of Jason Miller, Paulo Filho and Yushin Okami prior to beating Marquardt.
Many had Marquardt pegged as THE guy to knock Silva off his perch atop the middleweight division before he got derailed on Saturday night.
Let’s face it, Marquardt got out-wrestled by a guy who was a two-time University National Champion in Greco Roman wrestling, the same style that Randy Couture has used to win title after title over his career.
It would be a tough task for anybody to get off their back with a guy of that level of wrestling on top of you and Marquardt actually did it in the 3rdRound after being pounded on for almost 15 minutes.
Following the loss, Marquardt admitted that he made crucial mistakes that cost him another title shot.
“I didn’t fight smart. I should have stopped the takedowns before going for the knock out. I’ll learn from this and continue to work hard,” Marquardt wrote on his official website.
So to say that Marquardt missed his opportunity would be an accurate statement, but he’ll be back. Don’t forget that he’s only 30-years old and has one of the best teams behind him with Greg Jackson’s camp out of New Mexico.
We could be looking at this most recent setback as the thing that pushed him over the top.
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Nate will definitely be back. He’s got all the tools, the training, the strategy, and the raw talent to get that belt. It’s just a matter of time. I was a big believer before the fight and still him. Sonnen is just a TOUGH matchup because his wrestling is so dominant. It’s funny, I tried to think of a more dominant wrestler in the Middleweight Division and honestly, I can think of none – besides Dan Henderson but good ol’ Dan jumps between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight and fights for strikeforce. Sonnen made me a fan Saturday night. Job well done.
Jon Huntley commented on February 9, 2010 @ 6:48 am
Chael didn’t beat Babalu, and he has sub losses to Forrest, Filho, Horn x 3…
dixon commented on February 9, 2010 @ 7:13 am
@dixon, thank you for the correction. Taken care of.
@Jon, I really like Nate and I think he will be the future of the middleweight division after Anderson’s all done with it. I would’ve loved to see him get another shot at Silva but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Tim Ngo commented on February 9, 2010 @ 9:02 am
Marquardt had the worst night of his professional career in one of the biggest fights of his life.
With a title shot hanging in the balance, he laid an egg and will now have to re-re-climb the middleweight ladder because of it.
He’ll be back, he’s definitely one of the best middleweights in the world, but Sonnen handed it to him on Saturday.
Tom Ngo commented on February 10, 2010 @ 8:34 am