Tyron Woodley vs Nate Marquardt

Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime

by Dr. Octagon, J.D.

This is for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. The King of Pancrase, Nate Marquardt is off the TRT, so he’s down a weight class. He hasn’t fought in a long time since being released by the UFC for juicing. He had a contract with BAMMA, but his fight fell through. Nate is a beast, but I haven’t seen him off the juice, so he might have issues at this weight. Tyron Woodley is a boring wrestler in the Fitch mold. Let’s hope for one knockout tonight at least. There’s been a ton of crappy decisions so far. Nate’s had a bunch of trouble with wrestlers. Live updates after the jump:[[MORE]]

Round 1: Nutshot by Nate. Woodley doesn’t seem to care. Nate with a kick, blocked. Woodley caught Nate with a left, Woodley goes into wrestling mode and has a hold of Nate. Nate throws a knee from the clinch. Marquardt caught Tyron with a straight right. Woodley shoots and is in the guillotine, but spins out. Woodley gets out of it, Nate pops him again and pushes him up against the fence. Marquardt is coming forward, lands another right and has a Woodley pushed against the cage. Woodley lands a knee as the fighters disengage. Nate lands a right, ties up Woodley and lands a huge knee from the clinch.

10-9 Marquardt

Round 2: Nate stalking, throws leg kicks. Spinning backfist from Woodley hits Nate in the shoulder. I hate that junk. Big leg kicks from Nate. Nate lunges in with a right that lands. Woodley ties him up. Leg kick from Nate. Not a lot of action this round.  hey must have realized they have five rounds to go. Woodley keeps backing up. Nate is ripping leg kicks. Nate landed a spinning kick to Woodley’s body. Straight right from Nate that hurt Woodley, he gets the takedown with a minute left to work. Woodley gets up and lands an uppercut as the fighters stand.

10-9 Marquardt

Round 3: Woodley coming forward and catches Nate. Marquardt is down and is hurt. Woodley is on top and is popping Nate. Nate has an armbar but lets it go. Nate has his guard closed and is holding on tight. Ref stands them up. I don’t think that’s fair, but whatever, I’d rather see them stand. Woodley whiffs on a superman punch. Nate whiffs with a right. Left hook from Woodley doesn’t land clean. Marquardt landing some of his own punches from the clinch. Marquardt locks Woodley up against the cage, landing knees and elbows.

Round 4: Bodyshot by Nate. Nate with a big right. Three punches landed by Nate. Front kick by Nate. Leg kick by Nate. Another leg kick. Nate lands a big right. Nate has Woodley pushed up against the cage. Nate lands an elbow from the clinch. Nate pushes off and lands about five punches, Woodley’s out. Nate knows and walks away before the ref steps in to separate them. Nate does some gymnastics to celebrate.

Nate Marquartdt by KO at 3:21 in the fourth round to win the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship.