When it comes to this Sunday’s main event between Rick Story and Nate Marquardt, the largest question is how Marquardt’s fairly bulky body will respond to shearing off extraneous poundage in his first drop down to welterweight.
But his opponent is facing a similar, if not quite as urgent or closely dissected, question. Fighting on short notice and only four weeks after defeating Thiago Alves, how will Story handle such a quick turnaround?
According to the man himself, he doesn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, Story has said he prefers quick turnarounds. But is this a genuine assertion, or mere posturing?
A look at Story’s fight career suggests the former. Story (currently 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the UFC) actually began his career with five fights in six months, between Nov. 2007 and Feb. 2008. He went 4-1 during that span, losing only his debut.
All told, he has fought six times a month or less following his preceding fights. More importantly, however, is the fact that he won all but one of those encounters. Included in these quick-turnaround victories was a unanimous decision win over Jake Ellenberger in June 2008, which he pulled off a month after earning a unanimous decision win over Ryan Healy.
With all of this in mind, when Story says he and his camp “jumped all over the opportunity” to fight Marquardt just four weeks after Story defeated Alves, I’m pretty well inclined to believe him.
In fact, it’s making me rethink my take on this fight. Rethink, but not re-pick.
I still think Marquardt has too much for Story in this one.
Part of what makes Story so durable, one presumes, is his fighting style. He wrestles like someone who has been wrestling most of his life—that is, it seems to come without a lot of effort. And when Story is controlling the fight, it generally makes the fight a fairly non-traumatic affair, at least for him. Furthermore, he seems very comfortable at the 170-pound mark, and always appears to be in excellent shape and condition.
That may be his biggest contrast with Marquardt, who, of course, looked almost as natural at middleweight as Story does at welterweight. I am guessing that Marquardt will be successful in the weight cut, and will use his strength, experience and superior striking to keep the fight standing and score damage there, but also to hold his own with Story once the fight hits the ground.
Despite this, though, no one (including probably Marquardt) will really know until the proverbial cage door closes. But even if Story comes up short, I have a feeling we’ll see him back on a UFC main card again. And maybe sooner rather than later.
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