Nate Marquardt Not Focused on Criticism Heading Into UFC 128

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsNate Marquardt will not be using Dana White’s criticism as motivation to prepare for his upcoming fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128.

If you recall, following Marquardt’s loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 12…

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Nate Marquardt will not be using Dana White’s criticism as motivation to prepare for his upcoming fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128.

If you recall, following Marquardt’s loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 122, the UFC president called Marquardt “a choker.”

“I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff,” Marquardt said on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour. “It’s just not true of me. You have to deal with that talk crap all the time and just basically brush it off. I gotta stick to what I gotta do.”

Video: Rashad Evans is Going to Hurt Shogun…Or At Least Make Him Feel Very Uncomfortable

(Video courtesy YouTube/nathanmarquardt)
It looks like Rashad Evans has taken a page out of number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard’s training manual to get ready for his upcoming light heavyweight  championship bout with Mauricio &…

(Video courtesy YouTube/nathanmarquardt)

It looks like Rashad Evans has taken a page out of number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard’s training manual to get ready for his upcoming light heavyweight  championship bout with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

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The MMA Hour With Werdum, Barnett, Coker, Marquardt, Walker and More

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour makes its 2011 debut in a very big way. Monday’s show will be a three-hour, nine guest extravaganza, featuring some of the biggest names in the sport. The show will also …

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The MMA Hour makes its 2011 debut in a very big way. Monday’s show will be a three-hour, nine guest extravaganza, featuring some of the biggest names in the sport. The show will also start at a special start time of 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT.

* Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett and Scott Coker will all be in studio to discuss Strikeforce’s upcoming heavyweight tournament.

* Another Strikeforce heavyweight, Herschel Walker, will return to discuss his Jan. 29 fight against Scott Carson.

* UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt will talk about his 2011 plans and his recent loss to Yushin Okami.

* Mike Roberts, Chael Sonnen and Anthony Pettis’ manager, will lay out what’s next for his clients.

* Jacob Volkmann will talk about getting a visit from the Secret Service and being featured on The Tonight Show after making comments about President Obama.

* Mark Hominick will talk about his UFC fight against George Roop on Jan. 22 and a potential title fight against Jose Aldo.

* And Matt Mitrione will stop by to deliver his “Mitrione Minute.”

And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Watch the show live below beginning at a special start time 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.

Nate Marquardt to Face Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128

Nate Marquardt and Yoshihiro Akiyama are set to battle in a middleweight bout scheduled for UFC 128, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting.

Marquardt steps in to replace Chael Sonnen after Sonnen was indefinitely suspended …

Nate Marquardt and Yoshihiro Akiyama are set to battle in a middleweight bout scheduled for UFC 128, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting.

Marquardt steps in to replace Chael Sonnen after Sonnen was indefinitely suspended by the UFC earlier this week.

UFC Booking Alert: Nate Marquardt vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne

(Not pictured: Stefan Struve’s cover for ‘Tall-Ass Honkey Weekly’.)
No, Yoshhiro Akiyama will not be taking on a convicted white-collar criminal in his next appearance. ESPN reports that Akiyama will instead face off against Nate Marquardt&…

Nate Marquardt magazine cover MMA UFC Muscle and FitnessYoshihiro Akiyama UFC MMA Maxim Korea Korean magazine cover
(Not pictured: Stefan Struve’s cover for ‘Tall-Ass Honkey Weekly’.)

No, Yoshhiro Akiyama will not be taking on a convicted white-collar criminal in his next appearance. ESPN reports that Akiyama will instead face off against Nate Marquardt at UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans, March 19th in Newark. The Japanese middleweight star is coming off two consecutive losses against Chris Leben (humiliating!) and Michael Bisping (slightly less humiliating, but still!), and likely needs a victory to keep his contract. Marquardt is coming off his own underwhelming loss against Yushin Okami at UFC 122, but will certainly be the favorite in this matchup.

Speaking of notable bookings, heavyweight contender Stefan Struve — who has slugged his way to back-to-back wins over Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle — has drawn another rising prospect for his next outing. According to MMAJunkie, Struve will return at UFC 130 (May 28th, Las Vegas) against undefeated Travis Browne, who just suffered through a foul-filled draw against Cheick Kongo at UFC 120. The only other match reported for UFC 130 at this point is Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story.

Greg Jackson too Safe? Well, He Does Wear Rubber Gloves…

Dana White recently targeted beloved coach, Greg Jackson of Jackson’s MMA as a contributor to boring fights in the UFC. Though Jackson holds prestige as the trainer to names like Georges St. Pierre, Jon “Bones” Jones, Rashad Evans, Clay Guida and Carlos Condit to name a few, White believes that Jackson’s lead-with-caution approach is […]

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Dana White recently targeted beloved coach, Greg Jackson of Jackson’s MMA as a contributor to boring fights in the UFC. Though Jackson holds prestige as the trainer to names like Georges St. Pierre, Jon “Bones” Jones, Rashad Evans, Clay Guida and Carlos Condit to name a few, White believes that Jackson’s lead-with-caution approach is hindering the excitement that the fighters should be bringing into the octagon that helps the viewers feel their $49.95 pay-per-view was money well spent. White had a mouthful to say in regard to Greg Jackson’s training methods including that he has respect for Jackson yet his game plans and corner work are “weird”. White summed up his thoughts by saying:

You’ll see guys who are traditionally exciting fighters, but when they go to the Greg Jackson camp they become safety first fighters. Why wouldn’t you tell him ‘go for broke in this third round? This is a close fight.

Greg Jackson had an opportunity to fire back to White’s criticisms earlier today via a phone interview with MMAFighting’s Ben Fowlkes:

Here’s a quick stat for you. So there’s been 22 [UFC events] this year? We had 12 bonuses so far this year, so one out of every two, one of my fighters got Submission of the Night, Knockout of the Night, or Fight of the Night.

Jackson went on to list that Jon Jones had finished every single fight under the Jackson training camp save for a Disqualification against Matt Hamill for an illegal elbow. He also mention’s Carlos Condit’s recent Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night honors with his victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 120.

The comments made by White were after a disappointing performance by Nate Marquardt who lost via Unanimous Decision to Yushin Okami earlier this month at UFC 122. White felt Marquardt had ample opportunity to try and finish Okami in the 3rd round but didn’t feel his corner was urging Marquardt to go for it.

Despite criticism, Greg Jackson remains a favorite MMA coach and is up for Coach of the Year at the 2010 World MMA Awards this Wednesday night. Jackson took top honors last year, so it doesn’t look like you, the fans would have agreed with White in 2009. We’ll see if you’ve had a change of heart this year.