UFC 128: victory reinvigorates

Nate Marquardt at weight-in / Photos by Dan Rod

It was a UFC event where seven fights were decided by the judges, but there was no lack of excitement in New Jersey, technique abounded.

Middleweight star Nate Marquardt overcame Dan Miller yesterday at UFC 128 and signaled how victory reinvigorates in MMA. “I really feel reinvigorated with this win. I really wanted to get in there and show I’m a new Nate Marquardt,” said the American.

“I didn’t expect Miller to be so quick, and from the beginning of the fight I saw I’d have to be at my peak game to beat him. I had to go for takedowns at chest height because his guillotines are so dangerous, and I knew it,” he said after the fight.

Banha

Another to taste the exhilaration of winning was Luiz “Banha” Cane, who spared the judges further work and brought the crowd to its feet with a brutal knockout.

“I feel reborn as a fighter. I wanted the knockout, to remind me of my first win here in the UFC,” he said. “And you will see more fights like this, because I’m more technical now. I want a shot at the belt, but not now, I want to prove my worth a bit more. I hope to have a chance to fight at UFC Rio, to fight in Brazil. Fighting before our fans would be great,” he pleaded.

Another of the evening’s standouts was Brendan Schaub, who fulfilled his promise to knockout an idol of his. He too remarked on the fight that left Mirko Filipovic laid out on the canvas.

“I’m no fool, I know Cro Cop’s a first-rate kickboxer, so I started with a lot of takedowns. I feel my speed is what made the difference in winning. I noticed Cro Cop lines up his feet before each kick, so I got his timing and fired off my right bomb. This is the second time in a row that I take out a legend (Gonzaga and Cro Cop). It’s a good turnaround in my career,” was his assessment of the evening’s events.

Besides Gleison Tibau, Edson Barboza Junior was the other winning Brazilian on the night. He alleged to have not fought as well as he’d have liked due to injury, even after earning the fight-of-the-night prize thanks to his reverse roundhouse kick to the head. “I’m so happy, but I wanted to strike more in the fight, let my kicks flow, but I had an injury and didn’t manage to. At least I got the chance to use my takedowns and Jiu-Jitsu,” said the fighter from Nova Friburgo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.