The Athlete gives his thoughts on Nate Marquardt and makes his picks for UFC 132.
The big news this week was Nate Marquardt testing for high levels of testosterone. I'm sitting on the fence with this one. It's a similar situation to Chael Sonnen, who was also given testosterone replacement therapy.
I don't have an issue with the therapy. If you get tested and have health issues and your testosterone levels are extremely low, and that's the treatment you're prescribed to fix it, then so be it. It's just like if you're having trouble with your thyroid and you were given medication to get your thyroid working well.
From the information I'm reading, he was having some health issues and went to the doctor. That being said, he still has to fall within the levels that were laid out there for athletes to compete. He realized that and he stopped taking the testosterone therapy when the levels were and hoped it would get down in time for the fight.
I'm alright with that as long as come fight time the levels are at the appropriate cutoff. But if your testosterone is above that level, then it becomes a competitive advantage. And I think the cutoff is even a bit above what is a normal level in a human body.
I'm not accusing Nate of trying to take the testosterone to performance-enhancing levels. It seems he was indeed taking this therapy during the Dan Miller fight and he was doing the tests and was complying, and staying within the allowable range. It doesn't sound like it was something he was trying to hide or trying to cheat with.
I'm not sticking up for the guy but it sounds like he was being up front and straightforward about the situation. He was taking the required tests, but in the end it was above the limit and he was not allowed to fight. It is what it is. It wasn't even that he was cheating because he never did fight -- he was ineligible.
I know this all happened just the day before he was supposed to fight in the main event of a free televised event, so I'm sure it was a huge inconvenience and cost the UFC a lot of money. But it's not like Thiago Silva, who tried to get away with it by submitting horse urine after the fact. He wasn't trying to hide what he did. Obviously, there's probably more to the story than what we're reading. But I just don't think it's as big a deal as people are making it.
Unfortunately all of this overshadowed what was ultimately a fantastic main event. Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo got promoted to the main event, and the fight started off pretty cautious just like any other heavyweight fight, but then all of a sudden we're treated to 40 seconds of excitement like you can't believe.
Kongo gets rocked and recovers and gets rocked again and recovers and then again and then he comes back and knocks out Barry. I believe it was fantastic refereeing by Dan Miragliotta, who was doing what he should and making sure Kongo was constantly defending himself and trying to improve his position, which he was, so Miragliotta let the fight go on and Kongo recovered and landed two fight-ending shots. It was so exciting; I was jumping out of my seat yelling at the TV! You want every fight to end that way.
One of the best, one of the worst, Story had to face Brenneman and got absolutely controlled.
Meanwhile, it was a huge upset for Charlie Brenneman to go out there and beat Story on such short notice. That was fun to watch too. He mixed his standup really well with his wrestling. People are so big on fighters just standing up and throwing down. But it's mixed martial arts, it's not just about standing there and punching each other in the face, otherwise, you might as well just call it boxing with small gloves.
After such a great UFC card last weekend, let's hope for another this holiday weekend! And here are my picks for UFC 132:
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
The first bantamweight main event in the UFC and you couldn't have picked a better one. I got to go with the champ. He's too hard to hit, too hard to find. He's very similar to Jose Aldo, and Faber couldn't get a hold of him, couldn't get him down. I think he'll have a hard time with Dominick. We know Urijah's durable, so it will probably go the distance but I see a five-round decision for Cruz.
Chris Leben vs. Wanderlei Silva
This is going to give us fireworks. They're not going the distance in this one. I'd be shocked if this goes out of the first round actually. It's in their DNA to stand and trade big shots. At this point I have to go with Leben, he's got the better chin. He's going to be able to take these shots and I'm not sure if Wanderlei can take them anymore. I'm going with an upset and picking Leben.
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader
I personally don't think this is going to be a great fight. There will likely be a little bit of exchanging early in the fight, and then just trying to set up shots. The winner will be the first guy to get top position and able to control the other. I just read that Tito's lost his past five fights and Bader is an up-and-comer, he's young and motivated, so I'm going with Bader.
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim
I'm a big Condit fan. He came over from the WEC as the champ, and people questioned the quality of opponents he faced over there and wondered how he'll do in the welterweight division in the UFC. But he's done great and really proven he belongs. I think Condit will out-kickbox Kim, who's a little bigger than Condit, but most guys are. I enjoy watching Condit and I think he'll finish this fight standing.
I'm going to go with Wiman on this one. He fights at a pretty vicious pace, and is hard to keep up with. Siver looked good against Sotiropoulos but Siver is mostly a kickboxer and Wiman will stay in your face and fight you.
Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller
This is another classic striker vs. grappler. Guillard is too fast and too strong for most of the lightweights in the UFC. I'm taking Guillard by knockout.
George Sotiropoulos vs. Rafael dos Anjos
I see Sotiropoulos coming back from his last loss and coming away with a submission.
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki
I think Bowles will take Mizugaki down and submit him.
Brad Tavares vs. Aaron Simpson
I believe here we're just going to see Simpson simply outwrestle Tavares and beat him for three rounds.
That's it for my picks. And I just want to wish all my readers a happy Canada Day. Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the fights Saturday
