Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares moved to fill UFC Fight Night 22 Main Event

[pumpt73]

source: www.mmajunkie.com



A middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt (29-9-2 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Rousimar Palhares (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) initially scheduled for UFC 118 has been moved to UFC Fight Night 22 and now serves as the night's main event.

Sources close to the event today confirmed the change with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The UFC Fight Night 22 headliner slot opened when Alan Belcher was forced out of his bout with Demian Maia due to detached retina that required surgery.

UFC 118 takes place Aug. 28 in Boston, so UFC Fight Night 22 – which takes place Sept. 15 – will give the Marquardt and Palhares an extra two-and-a-half weeks of camp time. The Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, hosts to their Spike TV-televised event.

It's not clear if Maia will remain on the UFC Fight Night 22 card. It's also not known how UFC officials will fill UFC 118's vacant main-card slot now that Marquardt vs. Palhares has been removed from the pay-per-view card.

Marquardt looks to rebound from a unanimous-decision loss to now-top contender Chael Sonnen, which came at UFC 109 in February. The loss, which propelled Sonnen to his title shot, snapped Marquardt's three-fight win streak (against Martin Kampmann, Wilso Gouveia and Maia – all of which came via knockout) and delivered a setback in his quest for a second title shot against current champ Anderson Silva.

The Team Jackson fighter now meets Palhares, who looks for his fourth consecutive victory in the UFC. During his recent streak, the Brazilian Top Team fighter earned a decision victory over Jeremy Horn and heel-hook submission wins over Lucio Linhares and Tomasz Drwal. He's now won nine of his past 10 fights, and eight of the victories have come via stoppage.

 

[Colin Gimp]

Fan of Marquardt and fight nights are a great way to still be in the spotlight but not the harsh do or die intensity of the PPV spotlight. Nate will be able to gain his rhythm hopefully. A guy i watched the jon jones fight with and trains mma says that Rousimar Palhares will win this fight wierd. Nate will dominate this guy and be fresh for an upcoming fight just like Jones is right now

 

[pumpt73]

You never know Colin. This is a big fight for both fighters really. This is a major step up for Palhares. He's fought a few tough guys like Drwal, Salaverry, and Jeremy Horn, but lost to his toughest test to date in Hendo. Palhares is a wizard on the ground, but I think Nate can work with that. Marquardt is no slouch himself on the ground. I gotta believe Nate wants this win badly after the disappointing loss to Sonnen. I agree with you, I think Nate wins this fight. If he keeps it standing, I don't see Palhares doing well. The last BJJ wizard that Nate faced, Demain Maia, he KO'd, so I think Nate sticks to his standup, uses his wrestling to negate any takedown attempt, and ends up KOing Palhares.