Was Nate Marquardt an elite WW-MW?

I think if he never ran into Prime Silva he would have became MW champion and had a good skill set where he could have had a nice reign. Wrong place, wrong time.
 
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He's in the Hall of Very Good along with Yushin Okami, Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck.
 
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I think if he never ran into Prime Silva he would have became MW champion and had a good skill set where he could have had a nice reign. Wrong place, wrong time.
I think big MW grapplers like Chael and Okami would've been his downfall (as we saw), but I think he had at least a 50/50 shot of beating Rich Franklin if there had been no Silva. I think that would've been a great fight, too.
 
Possibly true for striking. However, DDP is better and more dangerous everywhere when it comes to grappling: TDs, submissions and GnP. It's the awkward striking plus potential danger of a KO on the feet or being taken down that makes DDP such a tough puzzle.

Nate was a pretty damn good grappler. Only people who could beat him is high level wrestlers who could control him. But his bjj was better and his GnP was vicious compared to DDP
 
I put Nate in what I'd call a Legends category of fighters who never won a UFC title but did a lot of impressive things in and out of the UFC. Hendo is the king of this group, but there's also Nate, Rory McDonald, Fitch and Shields. All of them
  • Fought in UFC title fights
  • Beat UFC champs, just not in title fights (this may not be true of Fitch but it is with all the others)
  • Won titles in orgs outside the UFC
  • Arguably could've won a UFC title if not for a very good champion during their prime
  • Had long, 15-20 year careers
 
Nate was a pretty damn good grappler. Only people who could beat him is high level wrestlers who could control him. But his bjj was better and his GnP was vicious compared to DDP
Vicious compared to what DDP did to Brunson, Till and others? I can't rate him above DDP in GnP or subs. Brunson was the best MW wrestler after Chael and Weidman left their MW primes. And that face crank on Izzy was Khamzat-like. Nate was strong but not overpoweringly so like DDP.
 
Vicious compared to what DDP did to Brunson, Till and others? I can't rate him above DDP in GnP or subs. Brunson was the best MW wrestler after Chael and Weidman left their MW primes. And that face crank on Izzy was Khamzat-like. Nate was strong but not overpoweringly so like DDP.

You need to go watch the leites and Jeremy horn fights.

and those were guys who were a threat off their back
 
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You need to go watch the leites and Jeremy horn fights.

and those were guys who were a threat off their back
You're talking about submission defense. I've been talking about DDP's offensive grappling game the entire time.
 
You're talking about submission defense. I've been talking about DDP's offensive grappling game the entire time.
I was merely saying Nate did better vs better opposition. Brunson is literally just a turtle off his back and Izzy is not a good grappler at all.

Nate showed more brutal GnP and submissions in his day
 
He ruined James Te Huna's headlining of the card in his home country that's for sure, destroyed him.
 
I think if he never ran into Prime Silva he would have became MW champion and had a good skill set where he could have had a nice reign. Wrong place, wrong time.
I think big MW grapplers like Chael and Okami would've been his downfall (as we saw), but I think he had at least a 50/50 shot of beating Rich Franklin if there had been no Silva. I think that would've been a great fight, too.

The only MW grappler capable of beating Nate was 17:1 testosterone ratio Chael Sonnen who was a wrestling machine. Still a really tough night in the office for him. Other than that, I can't see it.

Okami beat Marquardt with his boxing mostly, not by wrestling let alone by size since Yushin wasnt a particularly big MW regardless of how many time Rogan screamed otherwise. Actually Nate got the better of the wrestling exchanges even if it was very even as the match as a whole

There had been no Silva, I think other top MWs as Franklin, Hendo or Belfort would have had a good chance in the feet, not any other way.
 
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