No one in the world of MMA would dispute that Nate Marquardt is not a tough customer; certainly not his competition in the upcoming UFC 122 odds action, Yushin Okami.
But no one familiar with the sport would go so far as to call him a top fighter in the sport and even though he’s always lurking somewhere on the list of top contenders he’s not a guy that most fans would envision one day as the next middleweight champion of the world.
And he won’t be.
But he may get a shot at the title if all goes according to plan in the UFC 122 betting action.
Marquardt will travel across the pond to continental Europe to take on Japanese contender Yushin Okami) in headline fight of the night. That’s not a typo: Nate Marquardt is headlining a UFC Main Event. While that would never happen on US soil, there are obviously different standards when the UFC hits the road and in Germany, Marquardt will be the biggest star in the UFC 122 odds lineup.
Originally, Marquardt wasn’t in the plans as the UFC brain trust put the lineup together for this Main Event. Brazilian Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Okami in the UFC 122 betting action but pulled out at the last minute when he got a better offer to fight the champion, Anderson Silva, in a title match. He obviously accepted and Marquardt was pressed into action.
What makes this matchup interesting is that the winner of this middleweight Main Event is expected to get the next crack at Silva and the middleweight title.
It’s hard to say whether that’s a punishment or a prize as Silva will clean the clock of either of these two fighters, but none the less this is likely the last chance that Marquardt will have to fight for the belt.
Throughout his UFC career Marquardt has been a career contender. His record of 30-9 is somewhat misleading and he’s currently rated the #3 middleweight challengers by Sherdog. He’s a very striker and matches up well against mat oriented opponents. Okami is just such an opponent and should provide a good matchup.
Marquardt has a bit of a reach advantage and is likely the stronger of the two. If he can keep the match on its feet and maintain his striking he should get the win in this UFC odds matchup and earn a likely rematch against Silva for the middleweight title.