UFN 19 Preview: Nate Quarry Ready for War Against Tim Credeur

In our first look at the UFC Fight Night 19 main card, middleweights Nate Quarry (11-3) and Tim Credeur (12-2) square off in what could be an absolute war on the feet that may produce Fight of the Night honors if neither combatant can finish each other. Quarry is currently 6-2 in the UFC with a loss to Rich Franklin in a middleweight title fight at UFC 56 and a loss to standout grappler Demian Maia at UFC 91. Quarry's most recent win came at UFC 97 over Jason MacDonald in which he finished the veteran inside the first round via TKO by elbows. Credeur has impressively gone 3-0 in the promotion following a stint on The Ultimate Fighter, but he tested positive for Adderall before his bout with Cale Yarborough at the TUF Season 7 Finale. He managed to defeat Yarborough at UFN 14 while defeating both Nick Catone and Nate Loughran in his next two fights.

At 37-years-old, Nate Quarry is definitely a fighter who could be knocking on the door of retirement in the near future, but he certainly hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. A heavy-handed striker, Quarry will look to use a sprawl to keep this fight standing as Credeur is probably the better fighter on the ground. Interestingly enough, Credeur has been working his striking more in his fights, and the rumor is that he's been focusing on it for this fight. 

Quarry trains out of Next Level MMA in Tigard, Oregon with fighters such as Mike Dolce. He has a Thai Boxing coach in Khun Kru Jeremy Wijers along with BJJ black belt Eban Kaneshiro. Wrestling coach Eddie Dahlen and conditioning coach Greg Thompson round out Quarry's camp. He'll likely be working on submission defense, but count of Quarry bringing his powerful hands to this battle. Quarry also has trained with Team Quest learning from top flight wrestlers like Chael Sonnen and Matt Lindland.

Credeur will have a distinct advantage on the floor as he's a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Rodrigo Medeiros down at Gladiator Academy in Louisiana. He also holds a black belt in Judo, and he's considered a master in Thugjitsu under Yves Edwards... if that means anything. Credeur has also been training at Xtreme Couture in Vegas at times, so he'll have some of the benefits of the striking coaches along with solid wrestling training from its staff. 

Ultimately, this fight comes down to Tim Credeur getting this fight to the ground. He isn't the dynamic grappler that Demian Maia is, and Quarry is a very tough man to takedown who has a solid sprawl coupled with heavy hands to counter. His wrestling is good enough to stop Credeur, but I doubt he'll want to play the ground control game with Tim if he manages to sprawl and take Credeur's back. Look for Quarry to try to keep this standing at all costs.

I think it's going to be a tough prospect for Credeur to put Quarry on his back, and Quarry will not only have more experience against tougher competition in the UFC -- he'll also have the heavier hands in this battle. Quarry's experience and stand-up game should pull out the victory here, and he may actually use his power to crush Credeur in top control with his wrestling game. I don't know if that's a smart idea, but he did manage to do it against grappler Jason MacDonald. In any case, I don't see Nate Quarry losing this match-up.