UFC 109 Relentless: Nate Marquardt meets former WEC champion Chael Sonnen

At UFC 109 on February 6, Nate "The Great" Marquardt faces off against Team Quest veteran Chael Sonnen. This match-up may be the most non-talked about match-up on the card.

Most believe that if Marquardt walks away victorious from this match-up against Sonnen that he will get the next crack at the middle weight championship. Vitor Belfort has been given the title shot against current champion Anderson Silva, but with a win at UFC 109 Marquardt would secure himself the next in line.

Marquardt and Silva have history with one another as they met back at UFC 73:Stacked. Silva TKO'd Marquardt at the 4:50 mark in Round 1. Since that bout Marquardt has looked like a completely different fighter finishing four fights by submission or tko with one controversial loss to Thales Leites. Most recently Marquardt KO'd Brazilian JiuJitsu ace Demian Maia at UFC 102:Couture vs Noguiera in a mere 21 seconds of the first round.

Meanwhile, Sonnen's last two appearances in the Octagon have been back-to-back wins over quality opponents Yushin Okami and Brazilian JiuJitsu black belt Dan Miller. Sonnen's major skill set is his wrestling pedigree that he uses quite effectively. His striking has improved quite a bit over the last 24 months as well.

Marquardt is working out of Team Jackson in New Mexico, but splits his time between there and Colorado where he works with Trevor Wittman. His training partners include the likes of current welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, No. 1 heavyweight contender Shane Carwin, and Keith Jardine.

Sonnen works mainly out of Team Quest with main training partners being former Pride champion Dan Henderson, Ed Herman, Matt Lindland, and Krzysztof Soszynski.

Both fighters will no doubt be looking to put on impressive performances in order to gain a shot at the middleweight championship as both know what is at stake on February 6th.

Marquardt's record stands at: 29-8-2 with 7 Tko's, 15 Subs, and 7 Decision wins.

Sonnen's record stands at: 23-10-1 with 7 Tko's, 3 Subs, and 13 Decision wins.

The Marquardt vs. Sonnen bout will help lead up to the Main Event that features two Hall of Famers in Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Mark "The Hammer" Coleman.