UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares

UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares, also known as UFC Fight Night 22 (and formerly known as UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Belcher) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 15, 2010 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.^[2] The event also served as a lead in to the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.^[3]

Background

The card for the event was plagued with numerous injuries, with multiple potential fights being called off as a result.

Jim Miller and Gleison Tibau were reported to be fighting at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, but the fight was moved to this card.^[4]

On August 1, 2010, Alan Belcher withdrew from the main event fight with Demian Maia after undergoing emergency eye surgery. Belcher stated on his Twitter account that he started to lose the vision in his right eye whilst in Brazil.^[5]

On August 2, 2010, the bout between Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares, which was originally scheduled for UFC 118 was moved to this event to serve as the new main event.^[6] As a result of this, Maia was moved to UFC 118 where he defeated Mario Miranda by unanimous decision in the same slot as the Marquardt vs. Palhares bout would have been.^[7]

On August 9, 2010, it was announced Tomasz Drwal would face Dave Branch because both of their original opponents had to withdraw from their bouts due to injury.^[8] Nick Catone, who was scheduled to fight Drwal, needed shoulder and back surgery.^[9] Aaron Simpson, who was scheduled to fight Branch, had a staph infection in his elbow.^[10]

On August 18, 2010, Mac Danzig was pulled from his UFC 115 rematch with Matt Wiman due to an unknown injury. Efrain Escudero was then pulled from a bout with John Gunderson to face Wiman in the co main event, but Wiman broke his arm while training. Escudero instead faced touted prospect Charles Oliveira,^[11] while Gunderson faced returning UFC veteran Yves Edwards.^[12] The Danzig/Wiman rematch was rescheduled for UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson in October 2011, where Wiman won by unanimous decision.

During the weigh-in, Efrain Escudero weighed in at 159 lb, resulting in his bout with Charles Oliveira becoming a catchweight bout.^[13]

Results

Preliminary card

• Welterweight bout: Brian Foster vs. Forrest Petz

Foster defeated Petz via TKO (punches) at 1:07 of round 1.

• Welterweight bout: TJ Waldburger vs. David Mitchell

Waldburger defeated Mitchell via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)

• Middleweight bout: Rich Attonito vs. Rafael Natal

Attonito defeated Natal via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)

• Middleweight bout: Tomasz Drwal vs. Dave Branch

Branch defeated Drwal via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)

• Light Heavyweight bout: Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Kingsbury defeated Hamman via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

• Lightweight bout: Yves Edwards vs. John Gunderson

Edwards defeated Gunderson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)

Main card

• Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller

Miller defeated Pearson via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:49 of round 2.

• Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau

Miller defeated Tibau via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)

• Catchweight (159 lb) bout: Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira

Oliveira defeated Escudero via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:25 of round 3.

• Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares

Marquardt defeated Palhares via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of round 1.

Controversy

Marquardt defeated Rousimar Palhares via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of round 1 at the main-event of UFC Fight Night 22. During the fight Palhares went for a heel-hook however Marquardt slipped his leg free and quickly turned the tables for a first-round TKO victory. However, this came with some controversy. Once Marquardt pulled his leg free, Palhares looked at his hand and signalled to officials and seemingly complained that Marquardt was greased. Marquardt capitalized on the opening and pounded Palhares with a quick barrage of punches. The ending, though, wasn't due to any illegal circumstances. UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan immediately announced that Marquardt had passed an inspection from the ringside physician and the referee. Marquardt explained that before the fight; "I came out really warm because I wanted a good sweat," which explains why he was slippery and managed to remain elusive.^[14][15][16] Marquardt’s trainer Greg Jackson stated that officials checked Marquardt before the fight for any greasing type substance.^[17]

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $40,000 bonuses.^[18]

• Fight of the Night: Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury
• Knockout of the Night: Brian Foster
• Submissions of the Night: Cole Miller and Charles Oliveira

References