| |
 |
|
Marquardt capitalizes on
Palhares’ mistake By Kevin Iole
 The
referee’s final instructions are usually a mere formality, allowing
the tension to build just that much longer before a fight begins.
But they are significant and they mean something, as Rousimar
Palhares sadly found out at Ultimate Fight Night 22.
Palhares looked away from Nate Marquardt
to complain to referee Herb Dean late in the first round of their
middleweight fight on Wednesday at the Erwin Events Center in
Austin, Texas. And when he looked away, Marquardt clocked Palhares
with a powerful right from the top that was the beginning of the
end.
Marquardt quickly finished the fight with a series of punches on the
ground before Dean stopped it at 3:28 of the first round, giving
Marquardt a victory he absolutely had to have to keep any hope of
getting another middleweight title shot alive.
The victory was made that much easier by a
huge mental gaffe by Palhares. The men were grappling on the ground
when Palhares grabbed Marquardt’s leg. Marquardt easily pulled out
of it and quickly scrambled to his feet.
As Marquardt got up, Palhares, flat on his back, diverted his
attention from Marquardt to look to his right to complain to Dean
that Marquardt’s leg had excessive grease on it. As he was
complaining to Dean for that split-second, Marquardt came down from
the top with a thudding right hand that, in essence, ended the
fight. Marquardt finished it off with a flurry off shots on the
ground before Dean halted the assault.
“He went for an ankle lock, I spun out and kicked off his butt, and
when I turned around, he kind of was waving at the ref and pointing
at me,” Marquardt told Yahoo! Sports. “I jumped down into guard and
punched him. It knocked him out and eventually the referee stopped
the fight.
“When the fight was over, he said I had grease on my foot or my leg.
The referee took a white paper towel and wiped my leg and then
waited a bit. He finally said there was no grease. Then, the [Texas]
commission checked my legs, my foot and my shin and they found
nothing. They said I was clean.”
Marquardt said he had had a very good warm-up and had a good sweat
going in the locker room and suspected the sweat is what Palhares
assumed was too much Vaseline.
Even if Marquardt had two jars of Vaseline on his legs, though, it
wouldn’t matter. Palhares has the right to complain when it’s safe
to do so. In the middle of the action with an opponent standing over
you ready to punch isn’t particularly safe.
This, though, isn’t just a combat sports issue. In any sport,
athletes are advised to keep playing until the referee orders a
stop. And the rule of thumb has to be, if in doubt, keep going. It’s
why you routinely see defensive players in the NFL race to the end
zone with fumble recoveries, even when it seemed pretty clear that
the runner was already down.
In combat sports, the admonition from the referee is particularly
critical, because stopping before the referee calls time can be
physically dangerous. And while Palhares is healthy, you can be
certain he won’t make the same mistake again.
There was no grease, fortunately, so we’ll be spared a drawn-out
complaint from Palhares. Marquardt got the victory he so desperately
needed in a card that didn’t get a lot of attention but which
carried great significance for him.
Marquardt entered 2010 as the unquestioned top contender for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title, held by Anderson
Silva. But at UFC 109, Marquardt was upset by Chael Sonnen, who then
went on to do so well in a loss to Silva that the UFC ordered a
rematch. With the winner of the Vitor Belfort-Yushin Okami bout at
UFC 123 in November being given a title shot against the Silva-Sonnen
II winner, it’s going to be a long time in any event for Marquardt
to move back into championship contention.
Another loss, though, would have been devastating. Marquardt,
though, said he didn’t place any extra significance on the match.
“Honestly, every fight in your career is critical,” he said. “The
next fight is always the most important one. That wasn’t that big of
an issue to me. Even though I lost to Chael, I was still at the top
of the division.”
He cemented that with a victory that came in large part due to his
diligence of preparing to defend ankle locks. He spent time during
camp in Albuquerque, N.M., working with trainer Greg Jackson on it,
as well as working with Tyrone Glover in Denver.
Though Marquardt entered the fight with a healthy respect for
Palhares’ leg locks, he said he was confident he was up to the task.
“Once I learned the defenses I would use, I used them against
high-level guys,” Marquardt said. “I put myself in situations, too,
rather than having them work for it, and that made it easier in the
fight. He’s good, but he never had it set or never had a grip on my
leg to really get close to anything.”
So shocked was Palhares that Marquardt was able to slide out of the
final attempt that he diverted his attention from the fight itself.
And for that, he has no one to blame but himself.
The next time out, bet on Palhares listening to the final
instructions as if it were the president’s State of the Union
speech. |
