Round 1:
Nate presses forward but Cezar is moving around well. Neither man is landing much of anything two minutes in. Cezar has a high-kick blocked and begins letting off some low kicks. Nate eats a right hand on his way backwards and responds with a front kick to the body. A cut opens up above Nate’z eye and he eats a high-kick. A cut has also opened up on the bridge of Cezar’s nose. A low kick takes Cezar’s legs out from under him and he falls down but shoots right back up. A right hand lands right down the pipe for Nate and the round comes to an end.
Round 2:
Nate blocks a body kick from Cezar and then shoots in on a takedown. Cezar defends the takedown well and the two separate after clinching against the cage. Nate lands a nice right hand and Cezar begins pressing forward before shooting in himself. Cezar works the takedown on Nate against the cage and finally gets him down. Nate immediately scrambles back to his feet and the pair resume striking. Nate comes forward and lands a nice combo before eating a kick to the body.
Cezar now comes inside and lands a left hand and follows it up with a leg kick. A spinning back fist is blocked by Nate and Cezar comes inside with a nice right hand. Nate responds with a big hook of his own and also eats a kick to the body. Nate drops Cezar and the pair exchange huge shots to end the round. Fans love this.
Round 3:
Some huge shots are being exchanged to open the round and Cezar gets a takedown right away. Nate has Cezar in his full guard but works his way to his feet. After a scramble Cezar gets into side control but isn’t doing much work from the position. Cezar begins throwing elbows to Nate’z stomach and continues to hold him down. Cezar now gets North-South position and continues ground-and-pound. Nate is able to scramble to his knees but Cezar then works for a submission. Nate ends up on top and the round comes to an end with some elbows landing from Nate.
Official Result: Cezar Ferreira def. Nate Marquardt via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
