UFC 198 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money. Fabricio Werdum topped the list with $40,000 while Stipe Miocic made $30,000. Vitor Belfort, Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia and Matt Brown made $20,000. UFC 198 took place on May 14th at the 40,000-seat Arena da Baixada
UFC 198 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money.
Fabricio Werdum topped the list with $40,000 while Stipe Miocic made $30,000. Vitor Belfort, Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia and Matt Brown made $20,000.
UFC 198 took place on May 14th at the 40,000-seat Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. The prelims aired on UFC Fight Pass and FOX Sports 1. The main card aired on PPV.
The event was headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Werdum and challenger Stipe Miocic. The co-main event featured a middleweight bout between Belfort and Ronaldo Souza. Also on this card, ‘Cyborg” Justino vs. Leslie Smith and “Shogun” Rua vs. Corey Anderson.
In combat sports, coaches and corner men have an important job. Their duty is not only to instruct the fighter leading up to the contest but to keep him calm, focused and safe during the battle. Trevor Wittman embodied that role when he protected forme…
In combat sports, coaches and corner men have an important job. Their duty is not only to instruct the fighter leading up to the contest but to keep him calm, focused and safe during the battle. Trevor Wittman embodied that role when he protected former champion Nate Marquardt from more damage at the hands of Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 188 on June 13.
Gastelum defeated Marquardt via corner stoppage in the second round of their middleweight fight. Marquardt had taken a vicious beating up to that point, and Wittman stepped in to bring the fight to an end. Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie reported that Wittman decided to stop the fight with one minute left in the second round.
“Taking needless damage is not good in this sport,” Wittman said. “The damage is when it affects your sharpness and the way you perform, and to see him take punishment, that’s longevity and him having kids.”
Marquardt supported his coach’s decision when the fighter was questioned about how the bout ended. He used his Facebook page to address his performance.
“Now I can say that Trevor did the right thing and protected me because I couldn’t move,” he wrote. “I’m not trying to make an excuse for losing. I don’t really feel that I need an excuse because I did my best with what I had and fought hard when I could.”
Wittman is a shining example of how a corner should act in such a situation. Mark Hunt was in a similar position when StipeMiocic was battering him for an extended period of time at UFC Fight Night 65 in May. Instead of his corner stopping the fight, Hunt was allowed to continue until referee John Sharp ended the beating in the fifth round.
Multiple media experts expressed that this fight should have been stopped earlier:
As mixed martial arts becomes more mainstream and receives coverage from larger outlets, situations such as these need to be minimalized. The sport is brutal, and violent moments will occur; however, corners and coaches need to play their part in protecting the fighters.
Wittman did his part for Marquardt; hopefully, other coaches will be willing to follow suit if their athlete is caught in a similar situation.
Another month, another UFC pay-per-view in the books.
The UFC returned to Mexico City on Saturday night, and this time it had its Mexican-American champion in tow. When the promotion left town, there was a new heavyweight champion: A Brazilian who is f…
Another month, another UFC pay-per-view in the books.
The UFC returned to Mexico City on Saturday night, and this time it had its Mexican-American champion in tow. When the promotion left town, there was a new heavyweight champion: A Brazilian who is fluent in multiple languages, was once cast aside by the UFC and then returned better than ever.
Here’s a look at what we learned, loved and absolutely loathed from UFC 188.
Learned: Altitude Is Not Your Friend
The most important thing we can take away from Saturday’s card is not that Cain Velasquez isn’t as good as we thought he was (he is still fearsomely good) or Fabricio Werdum is the greatest heavyweight of all time (he is not).
It’s that one camp made the smart decision to train at altitude, and that camp enjoyed success because of that decision.
Werdum spent his entire camp in the city he would eventually unify his championship in. Velasquez spent all but two weeks near sea level in San Jose, California.
The results were dramatic. The man known for having the best cardio in the entire sport was winded after the first round and absolutely exhausted in the second, making him easy pickings for Werdum.
If we learned anything from this fight, it’s this: training in the same conditions you’ll be fighting in? Yeah, that’s probably the most important thing you can do—particularly when the place you’ll be fighting is 7,500 feet above sea level.
Loved: Yair Rodriguez, Star in the Making
If Yair Rodriguez is the only talent to emerge from The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, then it will have been well worth the cost.
Rodriguez, a long, lanky and charismatic man, stepped in the Octagon with Charles Rosa on Saturday and put on a show. He used a wide variety of attacks, and by the middle of the second round, it made you think, “Man, this guy fights a lot like Jon Jones or Anthony Pettis or someone else who uses creative striking to advance their game.”
He is clearly not Jones or Pettis at this point. He has many miles to go before he can be considered even an interesting potential contender.
But what he is right now is an intriguing prospect, and one with enough upside that Reebok snapped up him to an exclusive deal a month before the launch of the official UFC uniform.
It sees potential star power, and that star power is a very big deal for the UFC because the promotion is attempting to solidify Mexico as another strong international base. Velasquez lost on Saturday, but Rodriguez—even in a split-decision win—showed that he might be someone the UFC can attach itself to for years to come.
Loathed: Nate Marquardt‘s Total Lack of Desire to Fight
There was a moment somewhere in the second round in his fight against Kelvin Gastelum when Nate Marquardt—the former Pancrase middleweight champion and one-time UFC middleweight title challenger—gave up the ghost.
Whatever confidence he’d brought into the fight vanished from his face.
Instead of looking like the cool, calm and collected fighter we’ve seen throughout his long career, Marqardt looked like a man who wanted to be doing anything else than what he was supposed to be doing at that moment.
Then he flinched and dropped to his knees before rolling over on his back, and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “This is a man who does not want to fight anymore. The referee should stop this fight.” It was an act of timidity, and Mardquardt was essentially begging for the fight to be stopped.
A few moments later, his trainer Trevor Wittman did what Marquardt could not. His head hanging low, staring at the canvas, Marquardt was silent as Wittman called off the fight.
It was a courageous thing for Wittman, who likely would have done the same thing even if Marquardt hadn’t already essentially given up. That’s what a good corner man does: He watches out for the health and welfare of his fighter. He does not trade in macho verbal nonsense. When his fighter is incapable of continuing and perhaps cannot see it, he does it for him.
And now Wittman should take the next logical step.
If Marquardt insists on continuing his fighting career—and I would be surprised if, after what we saw on Saturday, the 36-year-old does anything of the sort—Wittman needs to halt him in his tracks.
On Saturday, we saw a ghostly shell of a man who was once a very good fighter. Marquardt has nothing left to prove and certainly nothing left to gain. It is time for him to call it a day.
Nate Marquardt has had his days in the sun. Saturday night was not one of those days.
Nate Marquardt was once a great fighter. He won a title in Strikeforce and was a contender for a sustained time period in the UFC. He has 33 professional wins as a fi…
Nate Marquardt has had his days in the sun. Saturday night was not one of those days.
Nate Marquardt was once a great fighter. He won a title in Strikeforce and was a contender for a sustained time period in the UFC. He has 33 professional wins as a fighter.
But now, at age 36, it’s clear he’s coasting on fumes. After losing to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 188 in Mexico City, Marquardt is now on the bad side of five of his last six contests. This one ended by TKO when his corner threw in the metaphorical towel between the second and third rounds.
But it gets worse. Why don’t we delve into it, if you’ve got the stomach.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
There was a moment about halfway through the second round when Gastelum landed a clinch knee to Marquardt’s solar plexus; substantial, sure, but nothing overly vicious. Marquardt fell to the ground. But he didn’t fall fast. He fell in slow motion. He was, perhaps quite literally, lying down.
Beyond covering his face with his arms, Marquardt offered no additional resistance for the rest of the round. He may have thrown a punch, but if he did, it didn’t get close to landing.
There were other moments of domination (and, let’s be frank, humiliation) in this contest. But that slow-motion crumple summed it up better than anything else could.
What We Learned About Kelvin Gastelum
He’s back on track—and he wants to return to welterweight. Gastelum, who was essentially forced by UFC brass to move up to middleweight after he had repeated issues making the 170-pound welterweight limit, asked for it after the fight.
“I know I made a mistake,” Gastelum told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. “I want to man up…[And] do it the right way.”
We’ll see if he has that chance. But for now, at age 23 and with a win to bounce back from the sole blemish on his record, the 11-1 Gastelum is looking pretty good right where he is.
What We Learned About Nate Marquardt
He needs to retire. He really does. All respect to everything he has accomplished in his 16-year fight career, but it was downright pathetic to watch him fall over and go fetal on more than one occasion. Those can’t be the actions of someone who is in true fighting shape, physically or mentally. MMA analyst Patrick Wyman had this to say:
Marquardt has absolutely nothing left. Time to shut it down. #UFC188
I’d go ahead and give him that return to welterweight. See if he can make the cut successfully now. How about the winner between Matt Brown and Tim Means, who fight later in June?
What’s Next for Marquardt
I’ll say it again. It’s time for him to hang it up. Not because he owes fans a certain narrative, but because he’s a grown man with a family. Time to look at an occupation that doesn’t involve head trauma.
Nate Marquardt has had his days in the sun. Saturday night was not one of those days.
Nate Marquardt was once a great fighter. He won a title in Strikeforce and was a contender for a sustained time period in the UFC. He has 33 professional wins as a fi…
Nate Marquardt has had his days in the sun. Saturday night was not one of those days.
Nate Marquardt was once a great fighter. He won a title in Strikeforce and was a contender for a sustained time period in the UFC. He has 33 professional wins as a fighter.
But now, at age 36, it’s clear he’s coasting on fumes. After losing to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 188 in Mexico City, Marquardt is now on the bad side of five of his last six contests. This one ended by TKO when his corner threw in the metaphorical towel between the second and third rounds.
But it gets worse. Why don’t we delve into it, if you’ve got the stomach.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
There was a moment about halfway through the second round when Gastelum landed a clinch knee to Marquardt’s solar plexus; substantial, sure, but nothing overly vicious. Marquardt fell to the ground. But he didn’t fall fast. He fell in slow motion. He was, perhaps quite literally, lying down.
Beyond covering his face with his arms, Marquardt offered no additional resistance for the rest of the round. He may have thrown a punch, but if he did, it didn’t get close to landing.
There were other moments of domination (and, let’s be frank, humiliation) in this contest. But that slow-motion crumple summed it up better than anything else could.
What We Learned About Kelvin Gastelum
He’s back on track—and he wants to return to welterweight. Gastelum, who was essentially forced by UFC brass to move up to middleweight after he had repeated issues making the 170-pound welterweight limit, asked for it after the fight.
“I know I made a mistake,” Gastelum told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. “I want to man up…[And] do it the right way.”
We’ll see if he has that chance. But for now, at age 23 and with a win to bounce back from the sole blemish on his record, the 11-1 Gastelum is looking pretty good right where he is.
What We Learned About Nate Marquardt
He needs to retire. He really does. All respect to everything he has accomplished in his 16-year fight career, but it was downright pathetic to watch him fall over and go fetal on more than one occasion. Those can’t be the actions of someone who is in true fighting shape, physically or mentally. MMA analyst Patrick Wyman had this to say:
Marquardt has absolutely nothing left. Time to shut it down. #UFC188
I’d go ahead and give him that return to welterweight. See if he can make the cut successfully now. How about the winner between Matt Brown and Tim Means, who fight later in June?
What’s Next for Marquardt
I’ll say it again. It’s time for him to hang it up. Not because he owes fans a certain narrative, but because he’s a grown man with a family. Time to look at an occupation that doesn’t involve head trauma.
Former Strikeforce star and current UFC middleweight Derek Brunson earned one of his most decisive victories to date by knocking out Team Quest’s Ed “Short Fuse” Herman at UFC 183.
Brunson faked a kick and floored the 34-year-old veteran with a series …
Former Strikeforce star and current UFC middleweight Derek Brunson earned one of his most decisive victories to date by knocking out Team Quest’s Ed “Short Fuse” Herman at UFC 183.
Brunson faked a kick and floored the 34-year-old veteran with a series of lefts. The victory, which was his fastest in the Octagon, improved his record to 4-1.
Brunson, a former NCAA Division II All-American wrestler, talked about fine-tuning his game plan ahead of the Herman fight.
“It was a long camp. I’m a wrestler by trade so just trying to change that mentality, you know going for the takedown real fast. Just really taking my time,” Brunsontold reporters after Saturday’s fight.
With a few wins against established names in the sport and a strong performance in defeat against dangerous Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero, Brunson‘s time to enter the Top 15 of his middleweight class is now. Here are a few opponents who could stand across from the 31-year-old in 2015.
In combat sports, coaches and corner men have an important job. Their duty is not only to instruct the fighter leading up to the contest but to keep him calm, focused and safe during the battle. Trevor