Nate Marquardt made his return to the cage tonight, and in his highly anticipated return, he faced off against Tyron Woodley for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title.
Marquardt won the early two rounds, displaying good striking to take it to Woodley. Woodley fought back, rocking Marquardt twice and even almost finishing him on the ground but was unable to do so.
Marquardt finished the fight with a few elbows followed up with two vicious uppercuts, as Woodley fell to the floor and Marquardt claimed the vacant Strikeforce belt.
What we’ll remember about this fight:
The finishing combination that finished Tyron Woodley. My oh my was that a finishing uppercut to Woodley.
What we learned about Nate Marquardt:
Marquardt looked really good in his first fight at welterweight. He did an excellent job of dictating the fight, being aggressive and being able to utilize elbows, punches, knees and kicks to weaken Woodley.
What we learned about Tyron Woodley:
Woodley didn’t utilize his wrestling skills in this fight. He had a really good third round and even rocked Marquardt a couple of times. Woodley possesses power but couldn’t find a way to finish off Marquardt.
What’s next for Marquardt?:
Whoever Strikeforce feels is ready for that welterweight battle will be his next opponent.
Maybe they bring someone over from the UFC? I can’t figure out who could possibly be Marquardt’s first title defense at this point.
What’s next for Woodley?:
Much like Marquardt, I don’t know where to put Woodley. I can’t see a rematch with Tarec Saffiedine, although it would do Saffiedine well to set himself up for a title shot if he can get past Woodley this time.
Maybe a fight with Jordan Mein who won on the preliminary card would be in order.
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