Marquardt Wanted It, He Got It

Nate Marquardt in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani stated that he wished to move down to 170 pounds and drop out of the title contention he is close to achieving in the middle weight division. He expressed his wish to go ahead and go down because he felt his superior game would be too much to handle for many of the welterweights. Marquardt also believed that because of his natural weight he would have a slight size advantage over whoever is opposite side of the octagon before the bell rings.

Nate is set to face Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson in the upcoming fight, UFC Versus 4. Both powerful strikers with solid wrestling backgrounds, this prove to be a very interesting match-up for both men. If Marquardt wins this match, theoretically, he would be in the welterweight mix for title contention. Current champ Georges St. Pierre has plowed through every man in the welterweight division except current contender Jake Shields. And if GSP gets through the Bay Area native, the two may be set for a match.

This raises a couple of questions due to the recent unwillingness to fight teammates in the future for Nate. He shares a camp with the current champ, Georges St. Pierre. Marquardt stated in the Helwani interview that Georges and himself talked about this decision and that if they met it would be okay with one another. They are such good friends that their belief is when the time comes they will be able have respect for one another but also realize that it is their job. We will wee what happens, but that is still a long ways away.

Anthony Johnson: Just Get It Done

Anthony Johnson has just come off a fresh win this last Saturday against Dan Hardy. Hardy and Johnson with mutual respect, came into the fight promising an all-out slug fest guaranteed to end in a knockout. The truth of the fight was, that statement couldn't have been farther from the truth.

The bout lasted a full fifteen minutes and in a unanimous decision, Johnson took the cake. A visibly disappointed Hardy had a right to be down because the fight against the San Jose local fighter handed 'The Outlaw' his third straight loss.

His plan to take Hardy into the ground game was a tactic he learned from watching Koscheck fight. Kos guaranteed a KO as well against Paul Daley and then went to the ground for a full fifteen minutes for the unanimous decision. Johnson credits his win to his training partner and hard work.

"It wasn't my best performance, but as I said in my interviews, I just needed to win," he said. "I could have stood and banged with him. No problem. But why would I stand and bang when I know his absolute weakness is takedown defense and being on his back?

"I don't care what people think. ... My performance wasn't what I wanted it to be, but I'll take it."

Still, Johnson thinks Hardy should be commended for the performance. He heard Hardy "gurgling" during an arm-triangle choke but knew he'd "have to shoot him" to get him to quit in the fight.

He expected that kind of toughness.

"He won't give up," Johnson said. "I respect that. He's the toughest guy in the division. I don't doubt that at all."

Source and Article: MMA Junkie 

UFN 24 co-headliner Dan Hardy: I perform better when the pressure is on

With back-to-back losses and coming off the first knockout defeat of his career, Dan Hardy finds himself in a must-win situation.

Although a crowd-pleaser whose only UFC losses have come to welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and top-10-ranked Carlos Condit, Hardy (23-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) knows roster spots are limited.

But as he wraps up his preparations for Saturday's UFC Fight Night 24 co-headliner with Anthony Johnson (8-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC), he's confident the pressure to perform is a good thing.

"I like to put that kind of pressure on myself because I always perform better," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) during a recent media call. "I didn't do that in my last fight, and I ended up paying the price for it."

That fight was a first-round knockout loss to ex-WEC champ Condit, which followed a lopsided title loss to St-Pierre. Three consecutive losses would spell the end of most fighters' UFC careers. Hardy may have a longer leash, but he's not banking on it.


Source & Full Article: MMA Junkie