Woodley vs Marquardt fight in works

http://mmajunkie.com/news/27518/nate-marquardt-to-strikeforce-verbal-agreements-in-place-for-fight-with-tyron-woodley.mma
Onetime UFC middleweight challenger Nate Marquardt is back in the fold, under the Zuffa banner.

Eight months after he was released from his UFC contract, Marquardt has signed with the Zuffa-owned Strikeforce, as announced on the Tuesday edition of "UFC Tonight" on FUEL TV.

Additional MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) sources indicated that Marquardt (31-10-2 MMA, 0-0 SF) will likely make his Strikeforce debut as a welterweight against contender Tyron Woodley (10-0 MMA, 8-0 SF). Verbal agreements are in place for the matchup, though a date has yet to be set.

Marquardt was released this past month from a contract with British MMA promotion BAMMA that he signed this past July. Although scheduled to make his promotional debut earlier this month at BAMMA 9 against UFC vet Yoshiyuki Yoshida, the fight never came to fruition.

The Strikeforce signing ends a period of limbo for the standout fighter, who was very publicly released from the UFC this past June after failing to gain medical clearance to fight Rick Story in the headliner of UFC on Versus 4.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event this past June, disallowed Marquardt to fight Rick Story when pre-fight blood tests revealed his testosterone levels to be outside the commission's allowable limits. The commission subsequently suspended the onetime UFC middleweight title challenger, and the UFC fired him shortly thereafter.

Marquardt subsequently revealed that in August 2010, he noticed a change in his health and received clearance from his primary doctor to undergo hormone-replacement therapy. He added that the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which oversaw a bout this past March against Dan Miller at UFC 128, approved his therapy.

Nevertheless, through a series of missteps by Marquardt and his physicians, the fighter's testosterone level was not within allowable limits on the eve of his planned bout with Story.

"I was ready to fight on June 26," Marquardt then told MMAjunkie.com. "My levels were in range that day, and I was ready to fight. I'm ready to fight now. Right now, we're taking offers, and we're really looking at what makes sense and what's going to be an exciting fight for the fans."

Woodley re-asserted his claim as rightful contender to the now-vacant Strikeforce crown with his eighth consecutive victory in the promotion, which came this past month at "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" when he outpointed Jordan Mein by split decision.

After the fight, Woodley downplayed a rematch with Tarec Saffiedine, whom he outpointed 13 months ago at a Strikeforce Challengers event bearing their names.

"Everyone knows I'm basically the uncrowned champion in this division regardless of what happened, who shifted around," Woodley then said, referring to an exodus of Strikeforce talent that included welterweight champ Nick Diaz.

Although Marquardt vs. Woodley would appear worthy of title distinction, the bout's status is yet unknown.

Good I guess, still not a fan of Nate dropping to WW.

I'll be pulling for Woodley.

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

He's no more boring then say...GSP.

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

I'm rolling with Bobbitt here. I once was high on woodley, I think he has talent beyond positional grappling, but his last 3 or 4 fights have been brutally boring.

If Nate comes in and lights him up, I'd be all for it.


Voelker vs Nate will be a far more interesting match up.

High level grapplers have snooze fest from time to time. Happens to the best of them.

OU wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

He's no more boring then say...GSP.

No he is much more boring the GSP.

GSP is boring cause he straight dominates without finishing. Woodley eakes out wins via positional grappling. No domination, very little damage.

OU wrote:

High level grapplers have snooze fest from time to time. Happens to the best of them.

3 snoozers in a row. 4 out of 5.

Time he shows he can entertain at a higher level.

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

High level grapplers have snooze fest from time to time. Happens to the best of them.

3 snoozers in a row. 4 out of 5.

Time he shows he can entertain at a higher level.

If he keeps winning, he won't have to entertain.

OU wrote:

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

High level grapplers have snooze fest from time to time. Happens to the best of them.

3 snoozers in a row. 4 out of 5.

Time he shows he can entertain at a higher level.

If he keeps winning, he won't have to entertain.

On some level.

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

captain organic wrote:

OU wrote:

High level grapplers have snooze fest from time to time. Happens to the best of them.

3 snoozers in a row. 4 out of 5.

Time he shows he can entertain at a higher level.

If he keeps winning, he won't have to entertain.

On some level.

Winning is winning. At some point, that will be enough. Once his level of competition steps up, winning will be winning.

OU wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

He's no more boring then say...GSP.

Oh please...your just being a hater..GSP actually throws punches, tries for subs, and tries to pass the guard...Woodly holds people down to the ground and prays it doesn't get stood up. Could you remind me of the last time GSP was stood up from being on the ground? I can't because he is always active from the top, while Woodly gets stood up 2-3 times per round.

Ninja wrote:

OU wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'm for anybody beating Woodley. P4P most boring fighter in the sport

He's no more boring then say...GSP.

Oh please...your just being a hater..GSP actually throws punches, tries for subs, and tries to pass the guard...Woodly holds people down to the ground and prays it doesn't get stood up. Could you remind me of the last time GSP was stood up from being on the ground? I can't because he is always active from the top, while Woodly gets stood up 2-3 times per round.

A ref would get more shit for standing up GSP then he would Woodley. Just reality. OK so maybe I slightly exaggerated. But you can't deny that all high level grapplers produce the occasional snoozefest. Woodley might have been boring lately but he has finished 6 of his 10 pro fights.

Maybe because he is actually fighting better competition than earlier in his career? Daley, Tarec, Mein, and Coy are the top 4 best fighters he has faced and it so happens he didn't finish any of them, looking very boring in the process.

Ninja wrote:

Maybe because he is actually fighting better competition than earlier in his career? Daley, Tarec, Mein, and Coy are the top 4 best fighters he has faced and it so happens he didn't finish any of them, looking very boring in the process.

I think he has potential to finish fights. He is still very green. Give him time. Eventually he will excite everyone the way the amazing GSP does. He can give you more action on the way to his wins via dominate positioning.

For an athlete of his caliber, he hasn't shown any new elements at all in his last few fights. His top game consists of nothing but maintaining control

Hopefully Cormier vs Barnett headlines the card they fight on.

His first fight was in 2009. He did beat Daley just as convincingly as Kos did.

Woodley can win this, especially if it's 3 rounds but it will probably end up being a championship bout

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Woodley can win this, especially if it's 3 rounds but it will probably end up being a championship bout

Well who has the advantage if it does go 5? This will be Nate's first fight at WW.

OU wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Woodley can win this, especially if it's 3 rounds but it will probably end up being a championship bout

Well who has the advantage if it does go 5? This will be Nate's first fight at WW.

I don't care for Woodley's cardio. He fades sometime near the end of the second usually. Marquardt has always had solid conditioning...but yeah, the move to 170 can change that. Hopefully for Nate, the fact that he's been preparing for a fight at 170 for the past year maybe a weight cut won't hurt him so much.

Yeah he has had a long time now to adjust to the cut. But having practice cuts and actually fighting at that weight class are 2 different things. One of those things we really won't know until it happens. He is in a good camp though, I think he handles it alright. I wonder who has the strength advantage on fight night?

http://mmajunkie.com/news/27533/sources-strikeforce-event-targeted-for-may-19-in-san-jose.mma
Strikeforce's next major event could land in the promotion's birthplace.

Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that San Jose, Calif.'s HP Pavilion is targeted for a Strikeforce event on May 19, though the location has yet to be finalized.

No matchups have been confirmed for the event's fight lineup, which would include a main card on Showtime and prelims on Showtime Extreme.

Still in limbo at this point is the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, which originally was targeted for next week's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" slot before finalist Daniel Cormier (9-0 MMA, 6-0 SF) was forced to withdraw due to a broken hand. Cormier meets veteran Josh Barnett (31-5 MMA, 2-0 SF) in the finale.

Cormier, of course, is a member of MMA gym American Kickboxing Academy, which enjoys hometown-hero status in San Jose.

Strikeforce recently signed onetime UFC middleweight challenger Nate Marquardt (31-10-2 MMA, 0-0 SF), who is expected to meet contender Tyron Woodley (10-0 MMA, 8-0 SF) in his promotional debut, possibly for a vacant welterweight title. However, a date has yet to be set for the fight.

Since being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa LLC nearly a year ago, Strikeforce hasn't returned to San Jose, which hosted 12 of Strikeforce's first 17 events (and 18 of 58 overall). The promotion's most recent trip to San Jose came with "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg," which drew a reported attendance of 9,059 and a live gate of $533,214 in January 2011.