Say it ain’t so, Nate Marquardt.MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted earlier today that in an unfortunate and now confirmed turn of events, Marquardt has been deemed a “late scratch” from the card.In other words, as MMA Junkie has verified, Marquardt will n…
Say it ain’t so, Nate Marquardt.
MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted earlier today that in an unfortunate and now confirmed turn of events, Marquardt has been deemed a “late scratch” from the card.
In other words, as MMA Junkie has verified, Marquardt will not be facing Rick Story tomorrow at UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh.
Stepping in for Marquardt to face Story will Charlie Brenneman, who has not been in action since a January win over Amilcar Alves.
Original foes Matt Riddle and T.J. Grant both succumbed to injury, but Brenneman has not, although he will have the task of spending the next 24 hours decoding the game plan of the up-and-comer from the Brave Legion camp.
Stepping in as the UFC on Versus 4 headliner will be the original co-main event of Patrick “HD” Barry vs. Cheick Kongo.
The original co-main now has a lot more riding on it since it now contains the full brunt of the event’s hype. Both men will have to deliver or risk causing the event to be subjected to much criticism and panning from the MMA community.
UPDATE: MMAJunkie has now confirmed that the rumors of Nate Marquardt being pulled from the main event fight vs. Rick Story of the UFC on Versus 4 card scheduled for this Sunday, June 26 are true.The story was confirmed by Marquardt’s camp, who sent ou…
UPDATE: MMAJunkie has now confirmed that the rumors of Nate Marquardt being pulled from the main event fight vs. Rick Story of the UFC on Versus 4 card scheduled for this Sunday, June 26 are true.
The story was confirmed by Marquardt’s camp, who sent out this statement:
“Nate is really disappointed,” the statement read. “He really was looking forward to making his welterweight debut, and he plans to be back in there as soon as possible.”
To further confirm this rumor, B/R MMA Editor Brian Oswald received a text moments ago from Kelly Crigger, Marquardt’s manager at Alchemist, stating simply, “Nate was not medically cleared to fight. More soon.”
Rick Story will now fight Charlie Brenneman while Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo will be promoted to the main event.
——————–
Rumors are flooding in from various sources on Twitter that the main event for UFC on Versus 4 featuring Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story is off.
According to sources which include fellow UFC welterweight Diego Sanchez, Marquardt has been scratched from the event.
“@DiegoSanchez505: U hope it is just a [rumor] but my source is pretty reliable”
The prevailing rumor is that Marquardt was simply unable to cut the necessary weight to make it down to 170 pounds for the fight.
He was scheduled to make his debut at welterweight in this fight against Rick Story and had been talking publicly about how easy the weight cut is going, but the final few days can often be the worst.
John Morgan from MMAJunkie had more on the rumor, indicating that there may already be a replacement in the works.
“MMAjunkieJohn: Word spreading that Marquardt is late scratch, leaving Brenneman to face Story while Barry-Kongo takes main event. Working hard to verify.”
Charlie Brenneman was scheduled to fight TJ Grant on the same card, but Grant was forced off the card due to illness just a few days ago. Because the event was so close and it would be difficult to find a suitable replacement in time, the bout was instead simply scrapped.
But if the rumors are true and Story is also without an opponent, a mix-match fight between Story and Brenneman makes sense on short notice.
No word either way, yet, from the UFC; but these rumors seem to have some validity to them given the sources they are coming from.
UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story’s preliminary card will be streamed live via Facebook as has become the organization’s habit. What’s not quite so habitual is the caliber of the prelims.There aren’t any fading-but-still-large names as you might might…
UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story’s preliminary card will be streamed live via Facebook as has become the organization’s habit. What’s not quite so habitual is the caliber of the prelims.
There aren’t any fading-but-still-large names as you might might find on the appetizers for the bigger events, but there are some excellent clashes plus a couple up-and-comers:
—Daniel “Ninja” Roberts gets a stiff challenge from TUF alumnus Rich “Raging Bull” Attonito as he tries to get back on the winning track.
—Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon looks to bounce back from his loss to George Sotiropoulos in the Fight of the Night at UFC 123 against the Brit, Curt Warburton, who hopes to add to his momentum.
—Tyson Griffin returns to featherweight, which seem to be a better fit for the undersized dynamo, and he attempts to prove it against Manvel “The Anvil” Gamburyan. The Anvil was last seen napping in the middle of the cage with UFC Featherweight Champion Jose “Junior” Aldo celebrating in the background.
Of course, the most intriguing tussle might just be the one between lightweight shooting stars Nik “The Carny” Lentz and Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira.
The Brazilian Oliveira is the sexy pick here; he’s coming off his only loss in 15 career fights (suffered to Jim Miller) and he’s only 21 with a vicious all-around attack. On the other hand, the Carny has proven to be tough as nails and not one to back off a challenge. He’s one of those competitors who seems to be most dangerous when he’s discounted.
Add it all up and you have the recipe for what could be one of the entire card’s best bouts.
Nate Marquardt will be making his highly anticipated welterweight debut this Sunday at UFC Live: Marquardt vs Story.It is very important for Nate to win this fight. It’s his first fight in the already stacked welterweight division, so he is going to wa…
Nate Marquardt will be making his highly anticipated welterweight debut this Sunday at UFC Live: Marquardt vs Story.
It is very important for Nate to win this fight. It’s his first fight in the already stacked welterweight division, so he is going to want to make a big statement right off the bat.
Marquardt’s opponent will be Rick Story, who is a rising star in the division and is coming off of a big win over Thiago Alves. Rick is gaining popularity, but is still a relative unknown to many fans, so a loss for Nate would look really bad.
Story is a game opponent with a solid chin, an iron will and very good wrestling. He likes to push the pace and make his opponents work.
So, what does Marquardt need to do to be successful in his welterweight debut?
The most important thing he can do is come into this fight in good shape. Nate already looked ripped at middleweight, so he will need to handle the weight cut to 170 lbs. very carefully. If he gets too dehydrated and saps his cardio, Marquardt will be in huge trouble.
In terms of technical ability, Nate doesn’t have much to worry about. I believe that Marquardt has the advantage wherever this fight goes. His striking and submission skills are definitely superior to Story’s and, though some may be surprised to hear this, his wrestling is probably better too.
Some have speculated that wrestling is Nate’s Achilles heel, citing his losses to Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami.
First off, there’s no shame in being out-wrestled by Chael, who is probably the greatest wrestler the middleweight division has ever seen.
Secondly, Nate actually out-wrestled Okami in their fight. The reason he lost was he was getting outclassed on the feet.
So, given that Marquardt is technically superior to Story anywhere this fight could go, all Nate really has to worry about is fighting smart.
He needs to circle away from Story, as opposed to moving straight back, in order to avoid the clinch. The clinch is where Story would have the best chance of tiring Nate out.
We saw in the third round of his fight against Thiago Alves that Story cannot hang with elite strikers. So, if Marquardt can keep this one on the feet, he should win handily.
In summary, Nate needs to avoid the clinch, move side to side instead of moving back, dictate the pace and use his wrestling to keep the fight standing. If he does all that, he will definitely have a successful welterweight debut.
Rick story, blatantly holding back his true feelings regarding Nate Marquardt.
In preparation for UFC on Versus 4 this Sunday night, Ariel Helwani has been busy interviewing fighters. Since you probably have a major concerns regarding his interviews, I’ll address it now: Nobody gets slapped. For those of you still here, Nate Marquardt and Rick Story don’t exactly speak highly of each other, Christian Morecraft talks beer and Black Sabbath and John Howard talks about the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup.
For more of Ariel Helwani, be sure to check out the pre-fight and post-fight shows on Versus Network, beginning at 8 PM ET and 11:30 PM ET, respectively. You’ll get analysis from Ariel, Todd Harris and Stephan Bonnar. You’ll also get a special appearance by our favorite reader (No, not Cheick Kongo). And also watch the other videos after the jump.
Rick story, blatantly holding back his true feelings regarding Nate Marquardt.
In preparation for UFC on Versus 4 this Sunday night, Ariel Helwani has been busy interviewing fighters. Since you probably have a major concerns regarding his interviews, I’ll address it now: Nobody gets slapped. For those of you still here, Nate Marquardt and Rick Story don’t exactly speak highly of each other, Christian Morecraft talks beer and Black Sabbath and John Howard talks about the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup.
For more of Ariel Helwani, be sure to check out the pre-fight and post-fight shows on Versus Network, beginning at 8 PM ET and 11:30 PM ET, respectively. You’ll get analysis from Ariel, Todd Harris and Stephan Bonnar. You’ll also get a special appearance by our favorite reader (No, not Cheick Kongo). And also watch the other videos after the jump.
Rick “The Horror” Story must’ve angered someone in the UFC front office—president Dana White, matchmaker extraordinaire Joe Silva or another kingpin with equal influence.Check out the names on his six-fight rampage through the welterweight ranks…
Rick “The Horror” Story must’ve angered someone in the UFC front office—president Dana White, matchmaker extraordinaire Joe Silva or another kingpin with equal influence.
Check out the names on his six-fight rampage through the welterweight ranks and you’ll find it doesn’t included too many cream puffs.
Story got two warm-up fights after dropping a decision in Germany to John “The Hitman” Hathaway at UFC 99. Since those two bouts, however, it’s been an array of names he probably wasn’t supposed to beat—”Slick” Nick Osipczak was a hot commodity at the time, after a strong showing on The Ultimate Fighter’s ninth season and a domination of Matt Riddle; Dustin “McLovin'” Hazelett had just been knocked senseless by Paul “Semtex” Dailey, but was still thought to be a future contender; Johny Hendricks was undefeated; and Thiago “Pitbull” Alves was fresh off his eye-popping performance against John “Doomsday” Howard.
In each of those pairings, it would’ve been tough to call the Horror the favorite.
Well, guess what?
With Nate “The Great” Marquardt dropping down to 170 pounds for his scrap with Story, it’s tough to say the pattern has changed. Marquardt—as legitimate a contender to Anderson “The Spider” Silva’s middleweight throne as there was—is going to be a handful at the lighter weight unless the cut has sapped him of his usual pep. Given the Great’s reputation and history, that proposition is highly dubious.
Word is finally leaking out about the Horror so I won’t go so far as to call him the underdog and, if I’ve got this right, Vegas even likes the him a shred more than his opponent. Nevertheless, consider Nate Marquardt yet another serving in a steady diet of leaps up the degree of difficulty scale.
Which seems to be just the way Rick Story likes it.
Say it ain’t so, Nate Marquardt.