Former middleweight contender Nate Marquardt fights Rick Story this Sunday night in the UFC on Versus 4 main event. It will mark the first time ever that “The Great” has competed in the welterweight division. Let’s look at Marquardt’s most memorable moments -- good and bad -- before his weight-cutting experiment begins.
Nate Marquardt’s Best Fights: A Top 5 List
(The five fights mentioned above are listed in chronological order.)
Read Article >Nate Marquardt’s Worst Fights: A Top Five List
Marquardt was lured from “The Land of the Rising Sun” and hailed as a high profile acquisition who could add zest to a very bland 185-pound division, which at the time was ruled by Rich Franklin. His coming out party was to be showcased in the main event of the inaugural UFC Fight Night series on Spike TV, taking on the resurgent Ivan Salaverry. It turned out to be an awful fight that many rank among the worst main events in the promotion’s relatively short history. Marquardt went on to win a dreadfully dull decision; however, to add insult to injury, he tested positive for a banned steroid known as Nandrolone. He claimed it was from an over-the-counter supplement and two follow up tests, which came back negative, helped his argument. His suspension was lifted five months later and he was free to get back in the Octagon. Salaverry, meanwhile, wasn’t, getting a pink slip for his embarrassing performance.
Marquardt hadn’t lost a fight in nearly four years, winning six consecutive fights, four of which were under the UFC umbrella. Three of those four wins were decisions against competition that was far from fantastic. But the division at the time was shallow -- there certainly wasn’t a logjam of worthy challengers. Marquardt was winning, albeit blandly, which was enough to award him with the opportunity to squish the “Spider.” That opportunity didn’t last long, less than five minutes to be precise. He scored an early takedown, but that was the extent of highlights for Marquardt. Silva blasted him with a punch and he crumbled to the canvas in a heap. The champion then finished him off via strikes without even breaking a sweat. Back to the drawing board.
Read Article >UFC On Versus 4: Nate Marquardt’s Career Highs And Lows
And he feels his best chances of accomplishing that goal reside in the welterweight division.
So as Marquardt embarks on the latest chapter of his “Story,” we are once again going to travel back in time to look at the best and worst career-defining moments to date for “The Great.”
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