Issue 009

November 2005

Little more than a year ago, most people didn’t know the name Nate Quarry from a hole in the ground. Everyone thought that Matt Lindland was thee middleweight fighting out of Portland, Oregon. But on January 17th, 2005, at least 1.8 million people were introduced to Team Quest’s middleweight secret weapon and he hasn’t looked back since.

Though his stint on The Ultimate Fighter went pretty much how his fight career prior to the show had gone, success followed by injury, what happened on the show is likely is the precise reason that so many fight fans were drawn to him. On Episode 8, Quarry injured his ankle while training with coach Randy Couture. Despite the injury, Quarry kept the level head that he had maintained since the show’s debut. The unique maturity that he displayed on a show full of pranksters and spritzers lead to him being retained throughout the rest of the season as an additional coach.

Quarry was out of the running to become The Ultimate Fighter and earn a three-year, six-figure contract, but the way he maintained himself throughout the duration of the show kept fans’ interest in him piqued. Finally getting his shot in the octagon on the show’s live season finale, which actually took place a few months after the actual taping of the season’s first twelve episodes giving him time to heal, Quarry showed fans just why he made the cut for the show. In just 3 minutes and 17 seconds, Quarry put on a boxing clinic, using fellow season one competitor Lodune Sincaid as his punching dummy and knocking him out. 

With the Ultimate Fighting Championship playing off of the popularity of the series, they retained most of the competitors from the show to fight in various fight specials for SpikeTV (the show’s host network) and also using some of the more promising fighters from the show on pay-per-view cards. Showing the skills that he did against Sincaid and with the popularity that has built up around him, Quarry was brought back to the octagon just two months later. This time Quarry faced a much tougher test, longtime veteran Shonie Carter. 

By the way that the fight went, you’d never have guessed that Carter has nearly 100 fights to his credit and has fought in nearly every nook and cranny across the globe, dwarfing Quarry’s resume of 6-1. Again, it didn’t take long to crack the code as he had the answer for everything that Carter threw at him, using his clean boxing technique to knock Carter loopy two-and-a-half minutes into the first round. Two UFC fights, two knockouts.

Obviously being called back for another return performance, Quarry solidified his moniker of Rock. With fists that are starting to resemble stone more than flesh, he laid out rising jiujitsu stylist Pete Sell in under a minute at the first SpikeTV Ultimate Fight Night. Sell had come into the fight riding high on his 6-0 record and fresh off a submission of Phil Baroni, but Quarry sent Sell’s stock crashing to the ground.

Early on, for those that followed Quarry’s career in the Pacific Northwestern United States, he had become known primarily for his ground skills, a solid combination of submissions and ground and pound. Having grown maybe too comfortable on the ground, Quarry sought to round out his skill set. 

Training at Team Quest has apparently done just that as witnessed recently by his three knockouts in as many fights. His ground game is tighter than ever training with so many Olympic-caliber wrestlers in Oregon, but Quarry’s boxing has emerged as a whole other dimension to his fight game of late. Remaining humble throughout the whole spectacle of The Ultimate Fighter, Quarry is quick to give credit to his coaches Robert Follis, Mike Dolce, and Chris Wilson.

Though all of his prime-time exposure has come since his emergence on The Ultimate Fighter, Quarry did not go into the show green. Now 33, he has actually been training for about nine years now after finding his way into the sport. I did not do any sports as a child. I was raised in a religious family who wouldn’t let me compete in anything. I got involved after seeing the UFC back in the day, when Royce and Ken would beat on each other,” remembers Quarry. “It just seemed like such a cool sport. So I started training in secret. The first night I went in, I got my ass kicked so bad I vowed to return until I could tap everyone there. It took a few years, but I did it.”

Initially, he trained in Brazilian jiujitsu with the Machados, cousins to the Gracie family, before moving on to Team Quest. He quickly established himself at Team Quest and has been training there since before he started fighting and is usually second only to Robert Follis in the corner of most Team Quest.

He started his career with four straight victories before dropping a controversial decision in his fifth bout, ironically to a Brazilian fighter named Gustavo “Ximu” Machado. True to his level-headed nature, Quarry quickly returned to his winning ways in his follow up fight, submitting Chris Kiever with a triangle choke. Which brings us back around to the present. 

After his fight with Shonie Carter, he stated on MMAWeekly.com that, “I just want to make my way up, and hopefully get a title shot some day. Hopefully, things will go well for me, and if Rich (current UFC Rich Franklin) still has the belt when I’m up there and ready to go, then hopefully we’ll be able to clash heads. That would be awesome. It would be a fun, exciting fight.” So, recent turnabouts must have been a little surprising for Quarry and Team Quest. 

Teammate Matt Lindland, having won four straight fights and amassing a 9-3 UFC record, was highly regarded as the number one contender in the UFC’s middleweight division and believed to be in line for the next title shot. But due to an alleged breach of contract by Lindland when he wore one of his sponsor’s shirts to the UFC 54 weigh-ins, his contract was abruptly terminated following his victory over Joe Doerksen. Enter Nate Quarry into the title picture.

With his perfect record since debuting in the UFC and ever-growing popularity, the UFC decided to put Quarry’s feet to the fire and make him the opponent for Rich Franklin’s first title defense. Although for most people that have only recently taken notice of Quarry since his stint on The Ultimate Fighter, this fight does make sense for the UFC.

As Franklin has been one of the coaches, along with Matt Hughes, for the second season of The Ultimate Fighter along with the fact that he is already the champ, his popularity has also risen dramatically over the past year. With two fighters that are now shown to be a draw, no matter who loses, the UFC wins. Either fighter will be a popular champion, as Franklin already is. Regardless of who wins, they will keep fans tuning in and the loser will be kept around to continue to work their way through the division and fight towards a rematch.

Of course, you have to wonder how the juxtaposing of positions for Lindland and Quarry has affected their relationship. According to Quarry, it sounds as if it may have only turned out to be a positive. “There is no doubt about it, Matt deserved this title shot. I’m honored to be taking his place, and you would not believe how supportive he has been. He has always been a phenomenal training partner, but he has stepped it up a notch for this fight.”

And for Quarry himself, it will be a proud moment in his career, but as always, he manages to keep that balanced outlook on the whole situation. As he said on MMAWeekly, “I think it would be a fun, exciting fight. You saw how Rich just dominated Evan. I think he’d be a great competitor to go against. At the very least to say hey I got my title shot, and if he beats the hell out of me, all I can say is he was a better man that day, and it was a great time. One of those memories that you’ll have for the rest of your life.”

To win the championship would surely be the realization of a dream, but if it doesn’t happen, Quarry isn’t likely to tuck his tail and hide himself away. Despite the importance of fighting in his life, Quarry has often stated that the most important thing in his life is to be a successful father to his young daughter. He may have to be concerned about Franklin, but with the way that Quarry carries himself, he needn’t worry, his most important focus in life has likely already been realized.

Oh… and just for the record, his daughter is pretty confident in his chances against Franklin.

Fact file: Nate Quarry

• Weight: 200 LBS
• Height: 6’
• MMA record: 14- 1 (win-loss)
• Date of birth: 3-18-72
• Born: Arcata, California, U.S.A. 
• Nickname: “Rock”
• Lives in: Gresham, Oregon, U.S.A.
• Fight Team: Team Quest
• Family: Just my little girl.
• Major awards: Most argumentative, given by my third-grade teacher
• Best thing about being a fighter: When the round is over and they quit punching you in the head
• Lowest point in career: Having my right pectoral ripped completely off and needing surgery
• Favorite food: Sushi
• Favorite film: Gattaca and The Big Lebowski
• Phobias: Carnies. Circus folk. Small hands. Smells like cabbage.
• Hobbies: Hiking and the outdoors, movies, comics, and nerdy stuff like that
• Philosophy in life: Give 100%. Even if your meter is down to 30%, that’s your new 100%.
• Philosophy in the ring: You can beat on me all day; I’m not going anywhere.
• Proudest moment: Every day I get compliments on how wonderful my daughter is.
• Biggest influence in life: Star Wars. Or maybe the Simpsons. Some day I will be Homer. Especially after a few more blows to the head!