Nate Marquardt is one of the best middleweights in the world but he may never get another shot UFC 185-pound title. Each time he's one step away from a championship match, Marquardt falls short. It happened again today at UFC 122 against Yushin Okami. The Japanese grappler is handful for anyone and now that's added decent striking to his arsenal, he was an unsolvable riddle for American. Okami pulled the upset with a unanimous decision win, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, and earned himself a title shot some time in 2011.
Marquardt (30-10-2, 8-4 UFC) was in line for a title shot back at UFC 109. All he needed was a victory over Chael Sonnen. Sonnen dominated that fight with his wrestling and eventually faced Anderson Silva at UFC 117.
Okami didn't dominate the grappling to that degree but he did get the best of the work on the ground in the opening two rounds. In the third, Marquardt looked a little tired and couldn't figure out how to get inside to land punches. The taller Okami used his jab well and landed several nice straight lefts. That final stanza locked up the victory for Okami. He may not be the most exciting fighter in the division but he's now 10-2 in the UFC.
Marquardt has to go back to the drawing board knowing that he may be a regular in the top five but might not possess the game to win against the top fighters in the division. He lost to Silva at UFC 73 and said repeatedly that he's a different fighter now. Unfortunately, these failings in big fights are becoming his legacy.
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