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By Anthony De Franco  January 31, 2010, at 5:00 pm  There are a lot of people out there who are hoping that Anderson Silva moves up to light heavyweight. People want the middleweight division to be wide open once again. They want to see championship fights that aren’t decided before the fighters step into the cage.
Here’s a realization: That might not happen even if Silva does leave. Nate Marquardt could be the next dominant UFC champ.
Let’s introduce you to the man before I get into my reasoning. Nate is one of the most accomplished fighters in the middleweight division. Before coming over to the UFC, he was a three-time King of Pancrase. Since coming over, he is 8-2. He fought Silva after going 4-0 in his first four fights, meaning that he is 4-1 after his championship loss. In that one loss to Thales Leites, he was docked a point for kneeing a downed opponent in the head, and another for strikes to the back of the head. Before you think it was a dirty fight, remember that this is the same guy who chose not to strike a knocked out Demian Maia.
Marquardt’s game is a mix of many different disciplines. What really makes him special is his stand-up skill. He is a phenomenal kickboxer, as shown in his highlight reel 10-hit combo against Wilson Gouveia.
He is so technical and has such great power that he is at an advantage on his feet against anyone in the division…except for Silva.
His ground game is nothing to be messed around with either. He has 15 submission victories to his record as well. He has both wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training, and uses both of them extremely well.
Last but not least, there is his camp, which only one of the best in the world. Training at Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico brings the best out in any fighter. When you someone as great as Marquardt, it makes them truly spectacular.
No, Marquardt is not blessed with the same kind of physical gifts that Silva is. However, in the incredibly thin UFC middleweight division, there may not be anything standing between Nate and complete dominance. Look around the division: Who could really beat Nate? He’s fighting Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, and while Chael is a pest, a guy who makes anyone work for a victory, he is not going to beat Marquardt.
Further down the line, he could see Michael Bisping. The Count would want to stand with Nate, and thus be in line for another Dan Henderson-type KO. He could see Alan Belcher, who recently declared himself the greatest fighter of all time. Marquardt would end that thought quickly. Patrick Cote? Tom Lawlor? Aaron Simpson? Nope. Not close. Yushin Okami? Maybe a bit of a matchup problem, but I think it would be hard for him to get Marquardt down. Could Wanderlei Silva beat him? Maybe. It would be interesting to see the two stand and bang, but unless The Axe Murderer can turn back the clock to 2004, I don’t see him winning.
So, we are left with Nate as the unquestioned best fighter in the division. Of course, this is all contingent on Anderson Silva leaving the division.
If he does, Welcome to the Marquardt-era. That was me doing my best Joe Rogan.
By Matt Soldano January 26, 2010, at 10:50 pm From the department of Chad Ochocinco, I present you with the Bengals wide receiver’s new song, “Dat Ain’t My Baby”. Ochocinco performed this song at a party that was hosted by Lebron James down in South Beach. If there was ever more of a reason to love this guy, here it is.
By Anthony De Franco January 26, 2010, at 4:32 pm Wow. Always trust Tito to stir the pot a little during a boring week. From Bloody Elbow:
“I think [Liddell] had a problem,” Ortiz said. “A lot of people go through addiction. I think his deal was he was an alcoholic. He loved to party.” “He’s been sober since November, and he looks like a different person. It’s awesome. I’m proud of him – really proud of him.”
Back handed compliment much?
We all know that Liddell really liked to party. There are always pictures of him in clubs and stuff like that, but to call him an alcoholic without him ever admitting to it is just not something that you do.
Of course, Ortiz loves to talk about stuff like this in order to garner attention for himself, so no one should really be surprised.
Liddell and Ortiz will fight after they coach season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter.
By Anthony De Franco December 2, 2009, at 2:00 pm Come on. Everyone has to be impressed with how little Jon Jones Man-Love I’ve presented since UFC 100. I’ve purposely stayed off his jock this time just to prove that I can, but now, just a few days before his fight, I am in full on clinging to his leg, hype mode.
Jones, the ultra-athletic, super exciting prospect from Endicott, New York will take on Matt “The Hammer” Hamill on Saturday, and it will mark Jones’ coming out party to the main stream audience.
The gameplan, which will be provided by fight strategy master and Jones’ new trainer Greg Jackson, should be to stand and strike with Hamill, an incredibly decorated wrestler. However, Jones doesn’t think that going to the ground with The Hammer is a death sentence. From Bloody Elbow:
Matt had a great collegiate career, but it was so long ago. If you were a great wrestler, unless you’re all about wrestling every day, and still training at that level, you lose a lot of it. And for people to say that Matt’s just gonna take me down, hold me down, ground and pound me and beat me that way, it’s just ridiculous. I can’t wait to show the people that I’m a fresh wrestler out of college. Matt’s college career was like ten years ago. This time last year I was warming up for tournaments. I’m a wrestling coach now at Ithaca College, I wrestle at Cornell University all summer long, so I think it’s funny that people are giving him that huge gap in the wrestling department, and I can’t wait to make Matt prove that he’s a better wrestler than me.”
… “I’m gonna continue to be a grinder and continue to work hard, improve, and keep my head on straight. I’m not resting until I’m officially Anderson Silva status.”
Uhhh…I have chills. Anyway, while I don’t have any doubt that Jon Jones could leap tall buildings if he wanted to, I don’t want to see him on the ground with Hamill. Instead, he should be standing and moving against a much slower opponent.
By Anthony De Franco July 16, 2009, at 3:45 pm Hey, here’s a shocker. A professional athlete happens to have some notoriety as well as a championship belt to prove it, and women flock to him. Let’s take a look at Georges St. Pierre’s Sunday pool party following his UFC 100 over Thiago Alves:
How about that chick with the pink hair? Hot. Anyway, there’s another part to this story as well. One day after Brock Lesnar taunted an unconscious Frank Mir, GSP and Thiago Alves showed you how a couple of real sportsman get down.
Yea, That’s Thiago and the rest of American Top Team (included the hated Mike Thomas Brown) hanging out at St. Pierre’s party. GSP got drunk with the dude he beat twelve hours before. That’s called mutual respect, Brock.
Thanks for the Photos, Combat Lifestyle. First saw them on Cage Writer.
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The Host is a Greedy One
All week during pre-tournament preparation, Tiger Woods talked about his desire to be a “greedy host”. Yes, he is the man who’s name is on the tournament. Yes, he has had a much busier week then other players. And yes, after all that- Tiger leads his own tourney headed into the weekend.
Coming into yesterday tied for second place, Tiger shot up the leaderboard after a four under, 66 yesterday. Ironically, the round was two shots worse then Thursdays’, but I think Tiger will take the dividends. He sits a shot up on Rod Pampling and two shots up on defending champion Anthony Kim.
Kim, who set the course on fire on Thursday, shot a mediocre even par 70. Thanks to his record smashing day on Thursday, Kim still sits in good position to win the tournament. I would say great, but I never think looking up at the best player on the planet ever puts someone in great position for anything.
If your looking for a good non-Tiger story line for Saturday, I think Kim is where you go. Here’s a guy who hasn’t won in exactly a year and is looking to get back on the right track. Their is no doubt that Kim has all the potential in the world. One TV commentator on Thursday came short of guaranteeing that he would win “multiple majors” before he hits the Champions tour. This may be true, but whether Kim realizes that potential is yet to be seen. One thing going for him is youth. At 24 years old, he is well aware the the typical golfer does not hit his prime until his early thirties. Since one of Kim’s main weaknesses is his apparent love for nightlife and parties, the theory that his slump is purely a case of being young and immature does carry a lot of weight.
Today’s round will be a huge one for Kim. Does he forget his definitively average round from yesterday and play Congressional like he’s shown he can play Congressional? Or does the demons of the slump rise up and bite Kim, sending him back on the leader board? I think he can stay in this tournament. He was a shot off on almost every hole yesterday. The holes he bogeyed, he pared yesterday. The holes he pared, he birdied yesterday. Their wasn’t that big double bogey blow up hole for Kim that might suggest a meltdown. A few more birdies and one less bogey and we’re looking at Kim in serious contention on Sunday morning.
Other notables- Jim Furyk shot a -3, 67 on Friday to sit in fourth at seven under. U.S Open champ Lucas Glover is tied for eighth at 5 under. This is the third consecutive tournament for Glover. It’s a bit odd for a major champion not to take a week off, but Glover seams to be handling it well.
Trunk Slammers (missed the cut): Robert Allenby, who was in contention at the St. Jude, missed his fourth cut of the year after two straight rounds of 72. WCWP fav John Merrick is going home despite playing at even par on Friday. His six over 76 on Thursday sunk him. K. J Choi was one of similar fate. His 69 was good for a respectable -1 on Friday, but it could not erase a disastrous +7 Thursday….
Categories: PGA, Uncategorized
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