Nate Hopes to Send Sell into a “Rock” Quarry
According to Team Quest’s Nate “The Rock” Quarry
(pictures), his opponent for
Saturday’s Ultimate Fight Night in Las Vegas, Pete Sell (pictures), is a tough guy who should pose
enough resistance to create a great fight. But lest you figure that
Quarry, an “Ultimate Fighter” season I alum, thinks that he might
lose against Sell, you have another thing coming.
Quarry is hell-bent to prove to the mixed martial arts world that even though he didn’t win the coveted TUF contract, he is here to make a statement across the UFC middleweight spectrum. Quarry was booted off the show prematurely thanks to an injury, but the setback didn’t dampen his spirits. Since concluding his session on TUF, Quarry has torn up formidable foes in Lodune Sincaid (pictures) and Shonie Carter (pictures), both via strike stoppages.
While Quarry firmly believes that his fight with Sell won’t be a walk in the park, the New York-based kid who pummeled Phil Baroni (pictures) should think twice about trying to repeat one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history.
Quarry has been training vigorously for weeks and is more than eager to step foot into the Octagon inside the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. His fight is one of the featured attractions of Zuffa’s Ultimate Fight Night, another glorious step in the right direction for not only UFC but also MMA as a whole.
Sherdog.com recently caught up with Quarry and briefly conducted a one-on-one with “The Rock.” The laidback and confident Quarry spoke candidly about Sell, the show and he knows the UFC is about to explode onto the mainstream.
Sherdog.com: How has your training gone thus far and how good are you feeling right now, Nate?
Nathan Quarry (pictures): My training has gone really good. I feel great and I think I have everything dialed in right now. I have a good game plan developed. My cardio is feeling really good. My body is healthy. I am good to go.
Sherdog.com: Who consists of the main core of your training teammates?
Quarry: Well, Team Quest has always kind of revolved around Robert Follis. He’s the head coach there at the gym and he really [helps] me find things out. Besides him I got my kickboxing coach Dave Hagen (pictures), my boxing coach … and there are a bunch of great up-and-comers at the gym to help out. Guys like Mike Dolce, Eddie Herman, guys like that as well as with mainstays like Matt Lindland (pictures) and [Dan Henderson (pictures)].
Sherdog.com: You are scheduled to fight Pete Sell (pictures). Now the last time he fought in the UFC, he looked superb. He beat up Phil Baroni (pictures) and looked very well rounded and experienced. What are your thoughts on him?
Quarry: Yeah, Pete looked good. He looked like a really tough guy. Sell has a lot of heart; he’s in great shape. If I understand correctly, he took that fight against Baroni on very little notice and he went in there and actually imposed his stand-up game against Phil for most of the fight. For me, it looks like he is a guy who enjoys fighting, goes out there and does the best that he can. I look forward to this opportunity.
Sherdog.com: In staying with Sell, like I said he looked very well rounded. But he is a Serra Jiu-Jitsu guy and with that said, he has a very strong jiu-jitsu game. Do you expect him to approach the fight by trying to impose his ground game against you or do you think he’ll try to stand with you like he did against Baroni?
Quarry: I would say most likely he will be looking to take the fight to the ground, especially if he’s seen my last few fights, the ones against Lodune Sincaid (pictures) and Shonie Carter (pictures). I do very well in the stand-up and I assume that if he’s seen my fight against (Gustavo) Machado, he’ll want to take the fight to the ground and try to impose his jiu-jitsu or some ground-and-pound action. But I am going out there with the mindset that wherever the fight goes, that’s where I’ll be and I’ll just do the best that I can.
Sherdog.com: “Ultimate Fighter” season II has been wrapped up for a while and it’s going to debut in a few weeks. Have you heard anything about what happened on the new season?
Quarry: No, I have no clue about what happened during season II.
Sherdog.com: In your view, how much of an impact do you think “Ultimate Fighter” has had on the sport and do you think it truly has launched the UFC into the area of “mainstream” yet? Or do you think it is too early to tell?
Quarry: I think the “Ultimate Fighter” TV show has made a tremendous impact in bringing the UFC into a household setting. When was the last time the UFC was on TV being viewed by a million people let alone 10 million people? The ratings for the show were huge and in terms of the sport, it has never been that way. And now we have tons of people who have never even seen or heard of the UFC who get the chance to see the sport more than ever and get to see these fighters more as individuals. I have said it for years that the UFC is a great organization but the average person doesn’t care about the organization; they want to relate to the fighters. It’s the same thing with, say, Muhammad Ali. Nobody remember which belts he won but everyone knows that he was a great champion and he had a lot to say. People related to him. To some extent they loved him or they hated him, but they had feelings about him. That is what (TUF) provided — UFC heroes for the mainstream audience now. They got to see us guys, they got to see us fight and now they want to see more of us.
Sherdog.com: With that said, or you more excited about fighting on Spike TV for Ultimate Fight Night or would you rather fight on the “real” UFC card: UFC 54?
Quarry: Well, I like the thought of fighting Ultimate Fight Night because I’ll be seen by millions of people and hopefully it will give the chance of those who haven’t been purchasing the pay-per-views to see what I’m capable of. And hopefully the next time I fight it will be advertised and people will say, “Hey I want to see that guy fight,” and they saw me on the show. Whether they loved me on the show or hated me, either way they want to see me fight and see how I do. Hopefully that will cause a tremendous turn in favor of much more pay-per-view buys. This is going to be a great event. It has a stacked card. Stephan Bonnar (pictures) is fighting again and I really think the pay-per-view numbers are going to jump when they see these fights.
Sherdog.com: Within Zuffa, are you considered, or do you at least consider yourself, an “official” UFC fighter now? You are on the UFN card as a TUF season I contestant taking on a “real” UFC fighter.
Quarry: I consider myself to be an “official” UFC fighter. This is the third fight on my UFC contract. My first legitimate fight with a UFC contract was against Sincaid and my first one on a UFC PPV card was against Shonie, back at UFC 53. My contract is up and going and I consider myself a UFC veteran now.
Sherdog.com: Fair enough, Nate. I know you are busy so I will let you go. Thanks for your time and have a good fight on Saturday.
Quarry: Thanks. I look forward to putting on a good show.
Quarry is hell-bent to prove to the mixed martial arts world that even though he didn’t win the coveted TUF contract, he is here to make a statement across the UFC middleweight spectrum. Quarry was booted off the show prematurely thanks to an injury, but the setback didn’t dampen his spirits. Since concluding his session on TUF, Quarry has torn up formidable foes in Lodune Sincaid (pictures) and Shonie Carter (pictures), both via strike stoppages.
While Quarry firmly believes that his fight with Sell won’t be a walk in the park, the New York-based kid who pummeled Phil Baroni (pictures) should think twice about trying to repeat one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history.
Quarry has been training vigorously for weeks and is more than eager to step foot into the Octagon inside the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. His fight is one of the featured attractions of Zuffa’s Ultimate Fight Night, another glorious step in the right direction for not only UFC but also MMA as a whole.
Sherdog.com recently caught up with Quarry and briefly conducted a one-on-one with “The Rock.” The laidback and confident Quarry spoke candidly about Sell, the show and he knows the UFC is about to explode onto the mainstream.
Sherdog.com: How has your training gone thus far and how good are you feeling right now, Nate?
Nathan Quarry (pictures): My training has gone really good. I feel great and I think I have everything dialed in right now. I have a good game plan developed. My cardio is feeling really good. My body is healthy. I am good to go.
Sherdog.com: Who consists of the main core of your training teammates?
Quarry: Well, Team Quest has always kind of revolved around Robert Follis. He’s the head coach there at the gym and he really [helps] me find things out. Besides him I got my kickboxing coach Dave Hagen (pictures), my boxing coach … and there are a bunch of great up-and-comers at the gym to help out. Guys like Mike Dolce, Eddie Herman, guys like that as well as with mainstays like Matt Lindland (pictures) and [Dan Henderson (pictures)].
Sherdog.com: You are scheduled to fight Pete Sell (pictures). Now the last time he fought in the UFC, he looked superb. He beat up Phil Baroni (pictures) and looked very well rounded and experienced. What are your thoughts on him?
Quarry: Yeah, Pete looked good. He looked like a really tough guy. Sell has a lot of heart; he’s in great shape. If I understand correctly, he took that fight against Baroni on very little notice and he went in there and actually imposed his stand-up game against Phil for most of the fight. For me, it looks like he is a guy who enjoys fighting, goes out there and does the best that he can. I look forward to this opportunity.
Sherdog.com: In staying with Sell, like I said he looked very well rounded. But he is a Serra Jiu-Jitsu guy and with that said, he has a very strong jiu-jitsu game. Do you expect him to approach the fight by trying to impose his ground game against you or do you think he’ll try to stand with you like he did against Baroni?
Quarry: I would say most likely he will be looking to take the fight to the ground, especially if he’s seen my last few fights, the ones against Lodune Sincaid (pictures) and Shonie Carter (pictures). I do very well in the stand-up and I assume that if he’s seen my fight against (Gustavo) Machado, he’ll want to take the fight to the ground and try to impose his jiu-jitsu or some ground-and-pound action. But I am going out there with the mindset that wherever the fight goes, that’s where I’ll be and I’ll just do the best that I can.
Sherdog.com: “Ultimate Fighter” season II has been wrapped up for a while and it’s going to debut in a few weeks. Have you heard anything about what happened on the new season?
Quarry: No, I have no clue about what happened during season II.
Sherdog.com: In your view, how much of an impact do you think “Ultimate Fighter” has had on the sport and do you think it truly has launched the UFC into the area of “mainstream” yet? Or do you think it is too early to tell?
Quarry: I think the “Ultimate Fighter” TV show has made a tremendous impact in bringing the UFC into a household setting. When was the last time the UFC was on TV being viewed by a million people let alone 10 million people? The ratings for the show were huge and in terms of the sport, it has never been that way. And now we have tons of people who have never even seen or heard of the UFC who get the chance to see the sport more than ever and get to see these fighters more as individuals. I have said it for years that the UFC is a great organization but the average person doesn’t care about the organization; they want to relate to the fighters. It’s the same thing with, say, Muhammad Ali. Nobody remember which belts he won but everyone knows that he was a great champion and he had a lot to say. People related to him. To some extent they loved him or they hated him, but they had feelings about him. That is what (TUF) provided — UFC heroes for the mainstream audience now. They got to see us guys, they got to see us fight and now they want to see more of us.
Sherdog.com: With that said, or you more excited about fighting on Spike TV for Ultimate Fight Night or would you rather fight on the “real” UFC card: UFC 54?
Quarry: Well, I like the thought of fighting Ultimate Fight Night because I’ll be seen by millions of people and hopefully it will give the chance of those who haven’t been purchasing the pay-per-views to see what I’m capable of. And hopefully the next time I fight it will be advertised and people will say, “Hey I want to see that guy fight,” and they saw me on the show. Whether they loved me on the show or hated me, either way they want to see me fight and see how I do. Hopefully that will cause a tremendous turn in favor of much more pay-per-view buys. This is going to be a great event. It has a stacked card. Stephan Bonnar (pictures) is fighting again and I really think the pay-per-view numbers are going to jump when they see these fights.
Sherdog.com: Within Zuffa, are you considered, or do you at least consider yourself, an “official” UFC fighter now? You are on the UFN card as a TUF season I contestant taking on a “real” UFC fighter.
Quarry: I consider myself to be an “official” UFC fighter. This is the third fight on my UFC contract. My first legitimate fight with a UFC contract was against Sincaid and my first one on a UFC PPV card was against Shonie, back at UFC 53. My contract is up and going and I consider myself a UFC veteran now.
Sherdog.com: Fair enough, Nate. I know you are busy so I will let you go. Thanks for your time and have a good fight on Saturday.
Quarry: Thanks. I look forward to putting on a good show.
