Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia
In the second of two huge Middleweight matchups, former title challenger Nate “The Great” Marquardt will look to lay the groundwork for a rematch with Anderson Silva when he faces Wilson Gouveia, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt who is also looking to position himself for a title fight.
Gouveia is an extremely dangerous fighter with a top-level submission game and better than average striking. With impressive wins against Jason Macdonald, Jason Lambert, and Carmelo Marrero under his belt, the American Top Team prospect has proven that he has what it takes to survive in UFC’s competitive 185 pound division. Marquardt, though, is a clear step up in competition for him, and also extremely well-rounded, so this is a good litmus test for where he stands at this point.
Marquardt is undoubtedly one of the top Middleweight fighters in the UFC. His only two losses since 2004 are against Anderson Silva and Thales Leites. In the Leites fight, Marquardt was in control for the majority of the action, but came up short on the score cards because of two extremely questionable point deductions. Most observers felt that Marquardt came out of the fight looking like the far better fighter despite the loss. In his last fight, Marquardt utterly destroyed highly-regarded Martin Kampmann with strikes. Marquardt is the definition of well-rounded, with powerful striking, good submissions, and excellent wrestling.
Ultimately, Marquardt’s well-roundedness and experience will prove too much for Gouveia, and Nate “The Great” will continue his winning ways with a unanimous decision.
