Jackson, Marquardt Not Worried About Okami Grinding Out Win

Nate Marquardt has been up against fighters like Yushin Okami before.

He spent the early years of his career in Japan’s Pancrase organization, where he encountered opponents cut from a similar cloth as the man Marquardt takes on Saturday in the UFC 122 main event. Smart, patient counter fighters content to grind out their wins. Marquardt lost, but he learned.

“Having dealt with that before, having gone through those losses, I’ve learned from them,” Marquardt said during a recent interview on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “Having smart aggression, that’s the key. If you’re just aggressive, a fighter like [Okami], that fits perfectly into their style. But when I use smart aggression and I’m able to explode at certain points of the fight and control the fight and then also do the damage, that’s what’s going to get me the win.”

It’s a phrase Marquardt has apparently had drilled into his head: smart aggression. Okami is a counter fighter. Marquardt is well aware that plowing forward would be a dumb move.

“If I just go out there and walk forward the whole fight, he’s going to eat me up,” Marquardt said. “A counter fighter is waiting for someone to do that to him. I’m going to set him up and find openings, make openings, then I’m going to do the damage.”

Okami does more than just counter, though. He’s also a judo black belt. He can shut down an opponent’s game in the clinch, and he can also score throws and takedowns that move the fight to the mat.

“If you’ve never gone with someone who has good judo technique, then you’re at a big disadvantage,” Marquardt said. “But I’ve trained a lot with guys that have judo backgrounds and I’ve actually trained in the style of judo for three years as well. I feel that I’m going to have an advantage in that area.”

If Okami is able to get the fight to the ground, Marquardt will have to deal with the Japanese fighter’s top control. Chael Sonnen outpointed Marquardt earlier this year with a takedown-and-control game, but Marquardt’s trainer, Greg Jackson, doesn’t see that happening Saturday.

“Not too worried about that,” Jackson said. “Nate has great footwork. I don’t feel like he’s going to get ground down. I think that he’s ready for it. We know Okami’s a really big southpaw, and he can really kind of hold on to you, but Nate will be well prepared for that and hopefully get around it.”

Jackson also emphasized the importance of not letting Okami slow the fight down.

“We don’t want to be held on to, weighed on and ground down,” Jackson said. “A lot of that is just letting Nate be Nate, flowing. There’s specific things that he’s worked. Again [trainer] Trevor Wittman is really helping out with that … but we do need to make sure that we fight our fight and not Okami’s pace. That’s going to be a big factor.”

Whether or not the matchup is entertaining could also depend on Marquardt. He’s confident he’ll deliver in that regard as well.

“If you look at my last five fights, I’ve knocked out four of my opponents,” he said. “The only fight that I lost, against Chael, was Fight of the Night. I did the most damage in that fight. I am an exciting fighter. That’s not something I have to worry about. As long as I follow my game plan, the fight’s going to go great.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:46:05) with Marquardt, who also discussed Chael Sonnen’s alleged steroid use, cutting promos for the UFC and more.