Nate Marquardt stops Rousimar Palhares in first round

By Brett Okamoto

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010 | 7:58 p.m.

UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt scored a first-round TKO victory over Rousimar Palhares Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 22 in Austin, Texas.

In a bizarre main-event fight, Palhares stopped fighting and began complaining to referee Herb Dean from his back in the middle of the first round when Marquardt slipped out of a heel-hook submission.

Marquardt (30-9-2) took advantage of the opportunity by delivering a hard straight right that immediately stunned Palhares (11-3) and led to the finish at the 3:28 mark.

Palhares' protests were that Marquardt’s leg felt greased when he was trying to put on the submission, but the outcome of the fight will stand as ringside physicians and the referee both cleared Marquardt of any wrongdoing.

In an interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Marquardt said he had worked out in his locker room before the fight to make his body slick.

“I came out really warm because I wanted a good sweat,” Marquardt said. “I wanted to be slippery.”

It was a nice bounce-back win for the 31-year-old middleweight. In February, and seemingly just one win away from a title shot, Marquardt dropped a unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC 109.

Before the loss, Marquardt had posted three straight stoppage victories and should find himself near the top of the middleweight heap with this win.

For Palhares, the loss snaps his three-fight win streak that dated back to September 2008 when he dropped a unanimous decision to Dan Henderson.

In the night’s co-main event, rising Brazilian prospect Charles Oliveira (14-0) defeated Efrain Escudero (13-2) with a rear-naked choke submission in the third round.

Escudero, winner of the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," caught Oliveira with an accidental low kick in the final round.

Instead of taking the wind out of Oliveira, however, it eventually led to the end of the fight, as Oliveira immediately took Escudero down once action resumed.

As Escudero looked to scramble back to his feet, Oliveira transitioned to his back and easily locked in the submission from there to end the fight at the 2:25 mark.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting