SEPTEMBER 23, 2007 - SUNDAY

FIGHT NIGHT SEPT 19TH

WHAT A WEEK IT HAS BEEN. WHAT A COUPLE OF YEARS...

FIRST OFF I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED THE FIGHT ON WEDNESDAY. PETE AND I FOUGHT OUR HEARTS OUT. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER FOUGHT ANYONE AS HUNGRY FOR A WIN AS HE WAS THAT NIGHT. PETE IS A VERY TOUGH GUY AND IT JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW TOUGH THE UFC IS RIGHT NOW HAVING GUYS LIKE HIM WAITING IN THE WINGS.

I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A VERY TOUGH FIGHT. I KNEW PETE WOULD BE HUNGRY. BUT I WAS TOO. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I STEPPED IN THE OCTAGON AND I HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO MYSELF. HOW TOUGH AM I? WILL I STILL FIGHT TIL THE END? HOW'S MY TRAINING HOLD UP AGAINST AN UNWILLING OPPONENT? WHAT TYPE OF SHAPE WILL I BE IN? ANY HOLES IN MY GAME? ANY GIANT HOLES?

ALL QUESTIONS I NEEDED ANSWERING. SOME ANSWERS I WASN'T AS HAPPY WITH, BUT I'M HAPPY I GOT ANSWERS.

THE WEEK STARTED WITH ME HEADING TO VEGAS WITH MY MMA COACH AND TRAINING PARTNER GREG THOMPSON. WHEN I LEFT QUEST HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT STOOD BY ME 100%. HE GAVE SO MUCH OF HIMSELF TO HELP ME GET READY FOR THIS FIGHT IT'S JUST INCREDIBLE. HE PUSHED ME IN EVERY WORKOUT. WITHOUT HIM IN MY CORNER THIS JOURNEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH HARDER. I ALSO CALLED ALEX KARALEXIS TO SEE IF HE WOULD CORNER ME. IN CASE YOU DON'T REMEMBER HIM, HE WAS ON TUF 1 WITH ME AND JUST HAS A GREAT ATTITUDE FOR FIGHTING. AND MY BUDDY DAVE CAME DOWN FOR MORAL SUPPORT.

IT WAS TOUGH GETTING READY FOR THIS FIGHT. I GOT SICK 3 TIMES IN JUST A COUPLE MONTHS. I ACTUALLY GOT A PRETTY BAD HEAD COLD JUST A WEEK AND A HALF BEFORE TEH FIGHT. PART OF IT WAS HARD I WAS PUSHING BUT A LOT OF IT WAS THE STRESS OF EVERYTHING I WAS TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH. THAT WEARS ON A MAN. THEN THERE WERE THE INJURIES. SEEMED LIKE MY ANKLES WERE ALWAYS STRAINED OR MY RIGHT ARM WOULDN'T STRAIGHTEN ALL THE WAY.

THE WEIGHT CUT WAS A TOUGH ONE TOO. I WANTED TO BE A LITTLE BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN USUAL BUT THAT BENEFIT WAS NEGATED BY THE PAIN OF THE CUT. I CUT TEN POUNDS ON THE DAY OF WEIGH INS AND I'D BEEN CUTTING ALL WEEK. THE CUT ACTUALLY WENT GREAT. LOST ALL MY WEIGHT WITH PLENTY OF TIME. IT WAS JUST PAINFUL. I LIKE TO CUT WEIGHT ALL SUITED UP WHILE WALKING ON A TREADMILL. MY BODY WAS WORKING SO HARD THAT MY HEARTRATE WAS CLOSE TO 150 BPM WHILE WALKING 2 MPH. BUT THE WEIGHT CAME RIGHT OFF SO IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

GETTING INTO THE CAGE I FELT A DEEP INTENSITY AND NEED TO WIN. FOR ME THIS ONE FIGHT MADE OR BROKE MY FUTURE. MY FAMILY WAS DEPENDING ON THIS. MY LITTLE GIRL HAS NEEDS THAT I HAD TO FULFILL. SO WE SET ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF WAR. PETE HITTING ME MORE THAN I WOULD LIKE AND ME HITTING HIM LESS THAN I WOULD LIKE. IN THE SECOND ROUND HE BLASTED ME WITH A STRAIGHT RIGHT THAT DROPPED ME. IT WAS EXACTLY LIKE YOU SEE IN THE MOVIES. FIRST I SAW THE LIGHTS ABOVE THEN THE CANVAS THEN PETE MOVING IN ON ME. I KNEW IF I STAYED DOWN HE COULD FINISH ME SO I NEEDED TO GET UP. THE FIRST THOUGHT ON MY MIND WAS, "NO! I'M NOT DONE! WHERE'S THE REF? KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME!"

COMING INTO THE THIRD I LOOKED ACROSS THE RING AND FOR THE FIRST TIME HE WASN'T JUMPING AROUND. I KNEW THEN THAT THIS WAS THE TIME TO PRESS THE ACTION. HE HAD HIT ME AS HARD AS HE COULD AND I KEPT COMING. I JUST NEEDED TO DO IT AGAIN AND DO IT RIGHT. I LANDED A STRAIGHT RIGHT THAT SENT HIM TO THE CANVAS. FOR MONTHS I'D BEEN FANTASIZING ABOUT DROPPING HIM AND THEN MOTIONING HIM TO STAND UP SO THERE WOULD BE NO CONTROVERSY THIS TIME. SO I DID. I MOTIONED FOR HIM TO STAND UP. THEN THE SMARTER HALF OF MY BRAIN SAID, "SHUT THE HELL UP! JUST HIT HIM BEFORE HE DOES STAND UP AND BEAT ON YOU SOME MORE!" SO I LANDED THE SAME RIGHT HAND THAT THE LAST FIGHT ENDED WITH.

WHAT A GREAT NIGHT. THAT WAS THE FIGHT I NEEDED. I HAVE FOOTAGE OF MYSELF NOW TO SEE WHAT I NEED TO WORK ON. I HAVE A REMINDER THAT I CAN TAKE A PUNCH AND STILL FIGHT THROUGH IT. I KNOW I CAN DELIVER KNOCK OUT PUNCHES AS WELL.

SO MANY PEOPLE TO THANK. AND BUSINESSES.

NUVASIVE. THE COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN PIONEERING BACK SURGERIES. THINK ABOUT THIS, WITH THEIR PROCEDURE I WENT FROM BARELY BEING ABLE TO WALK I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN TO FIGHTING AGAIN IN THE UFC.

SPORTS LAB. MY COACH PHIL CLAUD REALLY TOOK MY TRAINING TO ANOTHER LEVEL. I OWE HIM MY FITNESS. HE'S IN NORTH PORTLAND SO LOOK HIM UP.

HUMAN PERFORMANCE SPECIALISTS. WWW.HPSI.US. THEY HELPED TO TAKE MY BODY TO ANOTHER LEVEL WITH VITAMIN TREATMENTS AND THERAPIES TO HELP REPAIR MY INJURED JOINTS. SO MANY PRO ATHLETES GO THERE IT'S AMAZING.

YOK'D CLOTHING. WWW.YOKD.COM JOHNNY SPONSORED ME FOR THIS FIGHT. AND BELIEVED IN ME BEFORE MY SURGERY. BEFORE I WENT UNDER THE KNIFE HE SENT ME A CONTRACT TO SIGN GUARANTEEING ME A MONTHLY INCOME WHILE I WAS HEALING. WHILE SOME SPONSORS RAN, JOHNNY RAN TO HELP.

METABOLIC ADAPTATION. WWW.FIGHTMA.COM BASICALLY THE SAME THING. ANTHONY AND STEVE LOOKED TO BRING ME ON BEFORE MY SURGERY AND WITHOUT THEIR SUPPLEMENTS MY TRAINING WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT HARDER.

ZEBRA MATS. WWW.ZEBRAMATS.COM ZEBRA STEPPED UP AND GAVE ME MATS TO TRAIN ON WHEN ALL I HAD WAS THE LITTLE RUBBER MARTIAL ARTS MATS. EVER BEEN DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD ON THOSE? SUCKS. THANKS, ZEBRA.

OAKLY SUNGLASSES. AGAIN, STEPPED UP AND SUPPORTED ME WHEN I NEEDED IT MOST.

TOYO TIRES. LET ME EXPLAIN HOW BADLY I NEEDED TIRES. DRIVING ON MY SPARE WITH THE STEAL WHEEL AND THE THE OTHER BACK TIRE IS FILLED WITH FIX A FLAT. THANKS GUYS, YOU SAVED ME.

WWW.MMAWAREHOUSE.COM CAME THROUGH TO SPONSOR ME FOR THIS FIGHT. GET YOUR GEAR THERE.

SPRAWL SHORTS. BEST, TOUGHEST, LONGEST LASTING SHORTS AROUND.

ALL OF THESE PLACES CAME THROUGH FOR ME WHEN I NEEDED THEM. SO PLEASE, SUPPORT THEM. AND EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME, SUPPORT THEM BECAUSE THE STUFF THEY HAVE IS THE BEST. METABOLIC ADAPTATION IS ACTUALLY GIVING A 40% DISCOUNT IF YOU TYPE IN FIGHTNIGHT AS THE PASS CODE. TRY THEIR STUFF. IT'S AMAZING. AND YOK'D GEAR AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST COOL. SO CHECK EVERYTHING OUT AND PLEASE TELL THEM THAT I SENT YOU. SPONSORSHIPS HAVE CARRIED ME FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. WITHOUT THEM I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TRAIN LIKE I DID.

AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVED IN ME. YOU ALL GAVE ME THE ENERGY TO TRAIN WHEN I DIDN'T THINK I HAD ANY LEFT. NOW I'M OFF TO FLORIDA TO FILM A FISHING SHOW CALLED THE SALTWATER EXPERIENCE. IS THAT COOL OR WHAT? FISHING FOR LEMON SHARKS. A NICE REWARD FOR GETTING PUNCHED SO MANY TIMES I GUESS.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE.


-NATE “ROCK” QUARRY
FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS!