UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (18-4) and the seven-time King of Pancrase, Nathan Marquardt (25-6-2), will fight for the UFC 185-pound title on July 7, according to MMAWeekly.com.
The news was first reported by UFCJunkie.com yesterday.
Apologies for not passing the news along sooner — I’ve been waiting to hear back from Marquardt for the last day or so to congratulate him, as well as hopefully add a little something from him here on the announcement.
He hasn’t returned my call yet — so the show must go on.
Silva is coming off of a second round submission victory over Travis Lutter (9-4) at UFC 67. It was supposed to be his first title defense, but Lutter failed to make weight and it was relegated to a three-round nontitle fight.
“The Spider” is 3-0 in the Octagon since his debut and will look to keep his perfect record intact against one of the top 185-pound fighters in the world that no one knows about.
And, that’s not such a good thing for the UFC.
Marquardt recently defeated Dean Lister (9-5) at UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25. He also boasts a flawless record inside the Octagon (4-0), but only one of those fights — Ivan Salaverry — has hit the airwaves.
Now, the UFC faces the uphill task of marketing and selling this fight to millions of fans who are only now beginning to understand the dominance of Silva, and who may not know the first thing about Marquardt.
Make no mistake, Marquardt deserves this fight.
He’s just going to have to prove to everyone leading up to the match that he belongs there — something the UFC should have done long before.
For a little more background on Marquardt check out this recent interview.
24 Comments »
Marquardt avenged a submission-fight loss to Lister last time out. I am a big Marquart fan, and am superhappy to see him in the UFC, but I think Dana let him slip through the cracks so to speak in terms of marketing this guy.
Here comes the tidal wave of opinions from the UFCOnly crowd, just like Rampage, Crocop, Silva, i.e. before him, that he needs to “earn” it in the UFC.
IMO, the UFC was second fiddle until the signings of the last ten months or so. They are no doubt now numero uno in the world. And here comes the flood of talent that UFC fans “thought” they were seeing, but now get to see for real.
I just hope Nate doesnt turn out to be another Kit Cope, super dominant in one style, but unable to put the whole MMA package together.
Man, some UFC fans might think “Seven Time King Of Pancrase” sounds bad as hell, but what is pancrase?
In the short, pancrase is very similiar to Pride fighting where there are no elbows. Noted differences, and I’m no expert here in all of them, is that palm strikes and finger attacks are allowed. It is called “hybrid-wrestling” and many of the competitors seem to focus more on ground techniques than on striking. Kind of like BJJ with strikes.
And this area is where pure pancrase guys have faltered in pure MMA events. They dont have the standup striking skills that dominate most MMA events. Again, I hope Nate has focused on this area of his game, cause he is a stud everyplace else.
hes shown hes got decents hands, but who knows against a guy like silva….all of us die hard fans who know about him are excited, but the people that just watch it on tv and stuff arent gonna be too excited about it….so they should probably have a couple other guys to sell the pay per view, then marquet can display his skills….but who knows what will happen, silvas an animal
Again, MMAdude, styles make fights as you know, and THIS ONE IS THE SHIT!!! It doesnt get any better than this fight. You guys and gals who havent seen NM are in for a treat. I am not picking a winner in this one, but it will be a war.
Hopefully UFC will start showing some old Marquardt fights.
Anyone subscribing to UFC Fight Club? I’m wondering if it’s worth it. Just trying to figure out the best (cheapest) way to see old fights, other than searching YouTube.
Nate’s a tough guy and he’s never been KOed. Then again there’s a first time for everything.
I think Nate has a legitimate chance to win hes well versed in everything, but as we all know Silva is an animal who has earned his respect but i think UFC got the #1 contender on the nose Nate has earned this and I know 2 things are for sure.
1- He will make weight
2- He will last at least 2rd’s the guys chin is made of granite.
My heart says to pick Nate, my head and common sense says to pick Silva i guess only time will tell, but either way even without the “big name” recognition real fans know this is one of the best matchups in a long time in the UFC.
marquardt dosent get shown on fight night - yet patrick cote gets a main card slot in ufc 67. dosent make sense.
jon fitch undercard is similar in poor decision making.
SteveO, I’ve said it a before and I’ll say it again, Dailymotion.com for fights, Youtube is BooTube.
just another human punching bag for my boy, can’t nobody throw hands with tha spida…everybody wants to look smart and say how good they know nate is, but thats obvious if he’s getting a title fight…bottom line, don’t get caught up in the hype of the guy hidden in the shadows coming out of nowhere to beat the big bad champ, cause that shit ain’t happenin
It’s about time UFC puts on a main event where I can not pick the winner before the fight happens
I am a long time fan of the UFC it is going to be a great fight but i have to agree with the spida. Silva is the best middlewieght in the world in eyes this is just a warm up fight,before he gets to kick “ACE” Framklin ass agian
This is off th e subject but can we get a poll going. I wanna see you every one thinks is the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC.
One thing,good leg kicks to Silva = defeated Silva.
this div with anderson here is no challenge he is head and shoulders the best guy in this weight class
can silva go 5 rounds? he’s been finishing his competition, but nate’s a guy who doesn’t get finished easily. all of jackson’s guys can go 5 rounds, but i see silva slowing down drastically in rounds 4&5 (if the fight goes that long). if it does, i see marquart by decision or submission. if it doesn’t, who knows?
MOREthanUFC is a big idiot! You need to watch more UFC rather than WWF matches.
holy crap in dan henderson really coming to the UFC…??
Lol, personal attacks, too funny. Ok, kid, keep tuning in to Spike and watching TUF and believe the hype that Dana spews out of his hole.
On The Spider, he hasnt really lost a fight in over 2 years. Chonan did submit him, but then again it’s Chonan. I think he is one hell of a fighter, but just because you’ve seen him in two fights (MoreThanUFC!!), dont think he cant be beat.
http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/anderson+silva/video/x8buh_ryo-chonan-vs-anderson-silva
Silva has a ton of weaknesses due to his body type. Weak legs, weak hand power, a very questionable chin, and poor full guard defense against the GnP. It’s just that the weak competition he has faced so far hasn’t been able to capitalize on them. Yes, weak. Leben is about as overrated as a fighter can be, and Franklin, as I’ve said before, may be great one day, but never was the fighter the UFC made him out to be.
Do I think Silva is worthy of his title, oh yes. Do I think he is the best in the UFC at 185 right now, hell yes. Do I think Marquardt will win? Mosdef.
PS- One of my favorite KOs of all time:
http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/anderson+silva/video/xhtbv_anderson-silva-kos-tony-fryklund
thanks morethanufc, good stuff…i dont think Marquet will be going for any flying heel hooks though..as far as the chonan fight goes, that was over two years ago, and silva is a different fighter than he was in that fight, he is way more aggresive, uses the clinch a lot more, and im sure is better on the ground…with that said i think you are right about a couple things…he is tall and skinny, and he does have chicken legs that may be prone to heel hooks, knee bars, whatever, but you might risk getting beaten down going for his legs…You are wrong about his punching power..it is extremely good…he was rocking leben with straight jabs…on the other side marquet is a big 185, good hands, im not sure how his chin is…..but i think at this point in time if anyone can beat Silva, Marquet can
What ever happened with Nate’s suspension a few years ago? I remember it was being debated because he passed the follow up screening, but cant remember if he was suspened/tossed from the UFC.
Should be a great fight…. Hope he can control Silva.
UFC really needs to bring a show to CT (Mohegan Sun) or NJ (Atlantic City-Boardwalk Hall) soon. Its been way too long without a show on the east coast. UFC YOU HAVE LOTS OF FANS HERE TOO!!! BRING IT!!!
rube-
silva would have no prob. going 5 rounds if need be, he has amazing stamina.
hi im one of Nate “the great” Marquart’s former students this man coached me for about a year and trained me to become the number one undefeated state champion in colorado and say what you want about him but he is a highly skilled fighter and possibly the nicest guy you could ever meet if you don’t believe me stop by his gym in aurora, co it’s called high alttitude martial arts