UFC middleweight and welterweight contender Nate “The Great” Marquardt defended his Pancrase Middleweight Championship against Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida in 2003. He had won the title when he defeated Kiuma Kunioku in 2002.
Gracie-Jiu Jitsu trained and dangerous on the ground, Almeida caught the former middleweight contender in a tight guillotine choke late in the first round. Marquardt was forced to tap out, but Almeida didn’t let go for several seconds afterwards.
After finally releasing the choke, an angry Marquardt delivered an extra right hand to the chin of Almeida for the unsportsmanlike conduct. Almeida’s trainer, Renzo Gracie, entered the ring and kicked Marquardt in the face, knocking him backwards and onto the canvas.
The two fighters quickly realized they had both made mistakes and shook each other’s hands when the result was announced.
Marquardt (31-10-2) will be making his UFC welterweight debut this Saturday when he takes on the very tough and durable fighter Rick “The Horror” Story (13-3), who is currently on a six-fight win streak.
Almeida retired from MMA in 2011 with an overall record of 13-5 and a 6-5 record in the UFC.
Check out Sal DeRose’s “knockout of the day” article, here!
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