MARQUARDT VS. SONNEN: WINNER GETS TITLE SHOT

UFC president Dana White confirmed today that the winner of this weekend’s middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen will indeed get a title shot against the winner of Siva vs. Belfort.

White made the official statement at today’s UFC 109: Relentless pre-fight Press Conference at Mandalay Bay’s Mizuya Lounge in Las Vegas.  "The winner of this fight gets a shot at Anderson Silva or Vitor Belfort, whoever wins that fight in Abu Dhabi," White said while introducing Marquardt and Sonnen to the crowd.

Nate Marquardt has made it known many times that he wishes to have a rematch with Anderson Silva as soon as possible.  Nate lost to Anderson by TKO in his 2007 bid for the title.  He has since stopped top contenders Wilson Gouveia and Demian Maia.  The possibility of a Silva vs. Marquardt rematch has seemed to be there for a while, but now it is very real.  Whether it be against Belfort or Silva, as far as a shot at the belt, Nate’s fight with Sonnen this weekend could seal the deal  "That's actually the first time I've heard that it's going to be for a title shot officially, so that's exciting," Marquardt commented.

Chael Sonnen has consistently stepped up to top competition with or without adequate notice.    Chael has gone 3-3 in the UFC against some of the very best fighters the organization has to offer.  Yushin Okami had beaten 8 of the 9 men he’d faced in the UFC, with his only loss coming to ex-champion Rich Franklin when Sonnen came from virtually nowhere to dominate him and earn a unanimous decision victory.  Dan Miller was 11-1 and had won all 3 of his UFC fights when Sonnen stepped in as a last minute replacement only to dominate him and earn another unanimous decision victory.  His wins have been impressive.  If he manages to best Marquardt this weekend, it will be difficult to say he doesn’t deserve a shot.

"We always had it in mind, these guys are two of the top five in the world so depending on whom you look at or whoever, these guys are it, so they deserve it," White stated. "Nate's been waiting for a while, too."

UFC 109: Relentless will be headlined by a Light Heavyweight matchup between UFC Hall of Famers Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.

By Lee Cox

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