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Nate Marquardt came into Saturday's UFC 109 event on a mission to get back to a rematch with Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. He was listed as a -500 favorite over Chael Sonnen on most betting sites, and fans and writers alike believed he was destined to get back to the top of the division to face off with Silva once again. Sonnen, however, had something else in mind.
After a number of quotable interviews and pre fight comments heading into this one, Sonnen played spoiler to perfection by employing a dominating top game for nearly the entire fight. Gaining takedowns seemingly at will, Sonnen held Marquardt on his back and pummeled him with punches to the body and face for nearly 13 minutes of the three round, fifteen minute affair.
Marquardt kept things interesting, however, opening up a nasty cut over the right eye of Sonnen in the first round with a vicious elbow from the bottom. Sonnen admitted after the fight that he was afraid the fight may have been stopped because of the cut at some point.
In addition to really the only offense Marquardt had in the first round, he nearly pulled off a massive come from behind victory in the final minute of the fight. After scrambling out of one position, Sonnen stayed on the grappling attack, but Marquardt slapped on a guillotine choke. It looked to be locked in tight, but Sonnen was able to loosen the grip and pop his head out, riding the top game for the final seconds en route to the victory.
The career best performance of Sonnen sets him up for a possible match up with the man he's disparaged to anyone who will listen in Silva. Should "The Spider" successfully defend his Title in April against Vitor Belfort, a bout with Sonnen will be in the cards for the middle of 2010. After dominating victories over two of the divisions toughest fighters in Yushin Okami and Marquardt, Chael Sonnen has turned himself from a fighter pegged to be boring to a guy many are finding they love to hate. Someone's got to be the bad guy, and Sonnen's comments, along with his ability to back them up in the cage, are making him a much more marketable fighter for the UFC. On Saturday in Las Vegas, he backed it up once again and took as his own the Title shot that seemed to be Marquardt's for the taking.
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