Nate Marquardt’s knockout of Brazil’s Wilson Gouveia in 2009 — after a locomotive-like power jab to the nose and flying knee to the jaw — bounced the Denver mixed-martial arts fighter to the upper levels of the UFC.
His physique grabbed attention before the fight even started. At 185 pounds, Marquardt looked twice as big as Gouveia. He was one of the largest fighters in the middleweight division, cut full of arms and shoulders.
So Marquardt’s surprise move to the slimmer welterweight division for a nationally televised main event Sunday against Washington’s Rick Story in Pittsburgh likely will make him the biggest fighter in UFC at 170 pounds.
“For me, it was about how I felt,” said Marquardt, who added this is a permanent move for him. “For my last fight, I was very light and I felt the best I’d felt in years.
“I felt like I had stamina the same I did when I was 20 years old. And I haven’t lost any strength, my power has gone up, actually, my speed’s gone up, so I feel great.”
What Marquardt netted by moving to welterweight was one of the toughest current divisions in UFC, topped by champion Georges St. Pierre, one of the two best pound-for-pound fighters going.
If Marquardt, who trains out of Grudge Training Center in Wheat Ridge, wants a title shot, he will first have to get by Story, who ranks among the 10 best in the division.
“He’s tough,” Marquardt said of Story. “But he doesn’t have the experience or the skill set that I do.”
Denver’s 32-year-old Marquardt (34-10-2, eight knockouts) has been fighting professionally since 1999 and earned a decision in his last outing over Dan Miller at UFC 128.
Story (13-3-0, three KOs) has a shorter resume than Marquardt but is on a six-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision over former world title contender Thiago Alves in May.
“Nate’s a great opponent. He’s well-rounded. He knows what he’s doing,” Story said. “He’s been here for a long time. But it’s gonna be a fight. I’m here to fight him. Let’s get it on.”
AROUND TOWN
Boxers in title bouts.
Three Colorado boxers moved a step closer to American titles after winning semifinal bouts Thursday at the USA Boxing National Championships. And Saturday’s finals, at City Auditorium in Colorado Springs, promise great action.
After a tough overtime win in the quarterfinals, three-time defending champion Louie Byrd of Denver earned a 17-11 decision over Baltimore’s Norberto Torres in the Thursday’s semifinals and moved to a title bout against Cincinnati’s David Carlton.
John Franklin, of the U.S. Army’s world-class athlete program at Fort Carson, will fight Texas’ Oscar Cantu in the 114-pound finals after Cantu eliminated Cheyenne’s Gabriel Montoya in the semifinals.
And Denver’s Luvisa Matali, looking to join the U.S. Olympic team in London when women’s boxing appears for the first time, will fight Cleveland’s Cashmere Jackson in the 141-pound final.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Interleague bests go at it.
In the last five years, the Rockies have the best interleague record among National League teams, as pointed out by The Denver Post’s Jim Armstrong this week. Colorado’s 52-32 mark is tops since 2006.
But which team has the best interleague mark all time since the NL and American League started cross-pollinating in 1997? That would be the New York Yankees, whose 150-105 mark (.588 winning percentage) is by far the best in baseball.
The teams will butt their interleague heads starting tonight in the Bronx for a three-game series.
The two weekend games at Yankee Stadium will play during the day, Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at noon. Both will air on Root.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Stadium Stampede.
The 27th running of the Stadium Stampede Run trots around Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday at 8:30 a.m., with some of the biggest stakes the race has had in years.
The 5K run and walk will double as the USA Track and Field Colorado 5K championship, with prize money to the top three finishers.
For the rest of us, the Stampede is a fun time, with a 1K kids fun run and a 1K Huff-N-Puff senior walk included. The race is also a fundraiser for Saint Joseph Hospital’s charity medial care. Check for info.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
MLS: Rapids face Crew.
The Rapids on Sunday travel to Ohio looking to erase the memory of one of their worst showings of the season. Colorado faces the host Columbus Crew at 6 p.m., airing on Altitude.
The game is a rematch of last season’s MLS semifinals. But it won’t be their penalty-kick dispatching of the Crew in a home-and-home series last August on the minds of the Rapids.
More recently, and more important, it’s a 3-1 rout to undermanned Los Angeles last week in Commerce City that stings Colorado. But the Rapids have lost consecutive games only once this season, and they followed that three-game skid in April with a nine-game unbeaten streak.
To rebound on the road against the Crew, the Rapids will need to rediscover a scoring touch between top strikers Conor Casey and the recently returned Omar Cummings.
“Conor Casey. He’s a big threat. He’s a goal scorer, so we have to contain him,” Columbus rookie Justin Meram said this week on Ohio’s ONN-TV. “They knock the ball around. They’re a good team.”
