Chael Sonnen earns title shot with mauling of Nate Marquardt
Chael Sonnen may not have looked it following the bout, but the mugging he put on the highly favored Nate “The Great” Marquardt was, for the most part, a one sided affair that propelled the aspiring politician to a future title shot at 185 pounds.
UFC President Dana White announced earlier this week that the winner of the match-up between Sonnen and Marquardt that took place at UFC 109 would be guaranteed a crack at the middleweight crown.
Sonnen stepped his trash talking game up to an entirely different level leading into Saturday evening’s showdown, and the Team Quest trained former NCAA All American wrestler backed it up with an incredible display of superior takedowns and top control in the bout with Marquardt to solidify his right to fight for all the marbles at 185 pounds in the near future with the unanimous decision victory.
Sonnen will face off with the winner of the middleweight title fight between current champion Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort set for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi on April 10.
Chael is currently on a three fight wins streak in the UFC with impressive previous victories over the likes of Dan Miller and Yushin Okami following a disappointing submission defeat at the hands of Demian Maia.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
| All posts by Cory Brady
i cant think of any mw other than Nate who deserves it more right now.
obviously nate doesnt deserve it anymore, but you get me
Well-Done.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Weak-Sauce.
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Well don’t just neg me, explain.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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bunch of nate lovers on here -thats why their not explaining all the negatives
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Weak-Sauce.
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Sonnen absolutely manhandled Marquardt, so the thumbs down are asinine. He talked the talk, then went in and walked the walk all over The Great.
What’s next for Nate in this division? This fight was for top contender, so now where is he? My guess is him fighting the loser of Belfort vs Silva to decide the next top contender, cause honestly, what’s left in the division? The winner of Bisping vs Silva? Franklin? I legit don’t know.
And if this wasn’t FOTN, what was?
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Liverpunch, I don’t think you are getting negs because of your thoughts (which I agree with). I don’t think most people have a problem with Sonnen getting a title shot after last night. I just don’t think many people saw this as such an easy pick like you. It’s not hard to comment after a fight happens and say the upset was sooo predictable. Nate was the favorite and lost but it was far from expected.
Now we have Sonnen as the #1 contender. It makes sense. He just beat Okami and Nate.
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Now we have to listen to Anderson Silva talk about how yet another fighter is undeserving of fighting him. That is, unless he loses, which is definitely possible, although I think he will win. If Silva does lose and it ends up being Sonnen/Belfort for the belt, that would set up a huge title eliminator fight for Marquardt/Silva. If I’m Nate, I’m cheering for Belfort to win so he can fight Silva to avenge the loss and potentially get the title shot he can never seem to quite get.
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Well put sir, although I’m man enough to admit I didn’t think Sonnen had much of a chance at all. I thought Nate was better than the guy you could hold down for 3 rounds, but Chael did it perfectly to his credit.
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I know Chael practically destroyed Nate, but I still think Nate has the better tools for beating Anderson..
I’m just saying, you aren’t going to see Chael throw any headkicks or spinning backfists.. And if Chael plans on shooting in from a distance, I hope he gets used to the taste of knee before the fight..
THEN AGAIN, Vitor could be the champ when Chael’s time comes, in which case Chael stands a far better chance at winning the belt..
It’s weird how all that works..
like..
Nate stands a better chance at beating Silva than Chael, but Chael beats Nate..
Then, Chael stands a better chance at beating Vitor than Silva, but..
Ah, I’m getting confused..
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The only enjoyment i get out of this title shot announcement is the anticipation of seeing Anderson break Chaels face.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I think people are going to do a big wtf happened when they see a Sonnen vs Belfort title fight.
I actually believe the conditions are just right with Belfort’s return to prominence that he has more than just a chance at dethroning Silva.
Whether anyone thinks Belfort deserves a shot or not doesn’t matter here, I’m really intrigued with this match up and I do believe it can go either way.
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before 109 took place i personally would have said Nate was the clear no. 1 contender. he sure as shit deserved a title shot more than Leites or Cote did. I dont rate him “so highly”, but i think the UFC mw is weak and i felt Nate was top of the bunch. And i would have picked him to beat pretty much anyone else in the UFC mw division including Vitor Belfort (i wont mention Hendo or any other non UFC mw as its pointless, they definitiely arent getting a title shot)
I gave Chael very little chance either. But as Chael mauled him for three rounds, he deserves the title shot that i felt Nate deserved.
Liverpunch, no sure why you are bringing up Filho and Henderson etc, this was never about the MW division as a whole, its about the UFC.
And i think the reason you are getting the negs is the way you are getting your point across. Its your opinion and thats great, but it doesnt mean your opinion is right and me and everyone else whose opinion differs are fucking idiots new to this sport.
I was wrong to think Nate would dominate Chael, and you know what, i’m glad i was wrong, its what makes this sport so exciting.
Well-Done.
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I dont think that chael has a chance at winning the title nor am i interested in seeing him fight again if his just going to wrestle an lay on top again. sorry chael fans. thats just my thoughts
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I just wanna know if MooseBaby stopped crying yet.
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I saw him and edub holding eachother in a corner crying last night so probably not yet.
It’ll be just like BigDave if Velasquez loses to Nog.
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Well, I’m certainly eating crow.
No one in the UFC is more deserving of a MW title shot than Chael. He beat two perennial title contenders in Okami and Marquardt and did so decisively.
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thats a good one and no i havent stoped yet
lol
what a utter fucking disapointment that was.
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but props to Chael. the only good thing is that the spider might get the chance to shut him up if he can get past Belfort
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Does anybody agree with me that Chael looked bigger in this fight compared to his previuos bouts? I know the ufc test’s the fighters for PED’s and etc…But i surpised /how much bigger he looked compared to nate. I;m not saying he used/used just noticed he put on sum muscle.
I still dont think his stand up is great and if he tales silva down, he won’t finish him. He didn;t even hurt nate at all.Nate’s face was clean and chael’s was beaten up. You would think nate won the fight just by looking at them. Another note, Wrestling is a good base in mma i guess… But they are not very exciting. Ex: Silva vs evans, sucked, nate vs chale, was alittle better but still sucked b/c eventhough sonnen had all the take downs, nate did most of the damage. Cant wait to see ju jits see beat out wresting. Just like the good ol’ days. Go Silva so he can shut up sonnen.
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I actually think that Sonnen has a good chance against Silva. Anderson’s takedown defense is one of the weaker (that’s relative) spots in his game and he doesn’t seem to worry much about it, possibly because he is pretty dangerous from his back. He was taken down by Marquart, by Lutter, by Henderson. Practically by anyone who tried. (and still won) But I think of all the different types of fighter, a big strong wrestler that could stay on him and not give him any room to move might be able to pull it off. Strikers he eats for breakfast and his jits is good enough to keep fighters like Leites at bay. He has a masterful muey thai clinch game but no wrestling to speak of. I think some evidence is to be found in the Henderson fight. Henderson actually beat him up pretty good for a round. But he ran out of gas and couldn’t keep the pace up and Anderson got to him. Sonnen is bigger and stronger than Henderson… And after seeing how effective he was against Marquardt.. I was impressed. Marquardt is good. I was not expecting that at all.
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Dana said the winner gets a title shot before the fight, so hard to argue that Sonnen doesn’t deserve it. Everyone saw Marquart as a legit title threat, so Sonnen should get his props.
Having said that, I was mystified by Nate’s performance. He looked like he gassed out after the first round and didn’t do much to get off his back until the last few minutes of the fight.
Sonnen executed his game plan perfectly, but I can’t believe a Greg Jackson-trained fighter wasn’t prepared for working off his back against a guy who’s big skill is wrestling. It looked like Nate wasn’t even doing basic stuff to try for a submission or sweep Sonnen off of him.
It could be that Sonnen has become that good, but I think it’s more likely that Nate had a bad night. So even though Sonnen deserves his shot, I think Belfort or Silva will eat him alive.
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I went horse yelling at the screen during this fight. How do you come in to a fight for a shot at the title with what looked like no gameplan. During interviews before the fight Nate said things like “Im better in every aspect”. A good coach would have smacked him in the mouth if he heard that and said no “Your not better at wrestling”. Just a terrible gameplan and performance by nate. It seems as though he can’t handle the big fights. The fight with Anderson was the same way.
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Easy Makington…. I was never one for the Nate the Great bandwagon.
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I’ll prolly get some thumbs down for this, but what about Maia? I mean why not have him and Chael fight for the shot the MW title. Maia did get KOd quick by Nate, but he also did finish Chael pretty quickly.
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Chael loses to Silva 9 out of 10 times… and I think Silva’s next fight against Belfort is the only worthy opponent he has for a while in the UFC. Just my opinion.
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