It's Official: Marquardt vs Palhares Headlines UFC Fight Night 22
Reported by:Patrick Boucher of MMAinsiders.com - 0000-00-00 00:00:00
As we reported previously, a middleweight contest between Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares will indeed serve as the UFC Fight Night headliner in September. UFC made the change official Tuesday morning. The original main event for the card featured Demian Maia vs. Alan Belcher. Belcher suffered a detached retina, which required surgery, and was forced to be removed from the card. Maia’s participation on the card remained a mystery over the weekend, with Belcher’s removal, he will also be moved to another, later, card. Maia is coming of a less-than-stellar performance against the UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, a fight that UFC President could no longer bare to watch as he left cage side. White criticized the champion for his performance in the later rounds, as he ran around the octagon. Marquardt and Palhares were originally slated to meet later this month at UFC 118. Instead, they will have additional training weeks and will meet September 15 at The Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX immediately following the debut of the upcoming Ultimate Fighter season on Spike-TV. Palhares looks to continue his climb up the ladder after recording three consecutive victories in the UFC. Marquardt however is coming off a decision loss to Chael Sonnen this past February. The loss vaulted Chael in to the #1 title contender slot, a slot that Marquardt has been chasing since losing to Silva for the title at UFC 73. The following fights are now confirmed for UFC Fight Night 22: MAIN CARD Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson PRELIMINARY CARD Efrain Escudero vs. John Gunderson Nick Catone vs. Tomsz Drwal Rich Attonito vs. Rafael Natal Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury David Mitchell vs. Anthony Waldburger