Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine results: Tarec Saffiedine upsets Nate Marquardt, takes decision

In the last Strikeforce fight ever, Tarec Saffiedine surprised nearly everyone with a one-sided win over Nate Marquardt to claim the welterweight title. Saffiedine kicked the bejesus out of Marquardt's lead leg, to the point that it changed colors and left Marqaurdt unable to put forth much offense. The final scores were 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46.

The pace was slow early, with very few strikes being thrown for the first minute. Saffiedine looked to establish a low kick game, but ate a couple in return from Marquardt. Saffiedine briefly dropped a charging Marquardt with a stiff jab, and Marquardt looked for a takedown. He didn't get it, but landed a big elbow on the break. The rest of the round alternated between the fighters exchanging kicks from range, and jockeying for position in the clinch against the cage.

After some kicking to start round two, Marquardt finally got a single leg takedown. Saffiedine got up right away though. An extended clinch battle against the cage had the crowd almost dead silent. Saffiedine kept it up with the kicks while Marquardt continued to unsuccessfully look for a takedown. Not the most eventful round by any means.

The third and fourth rounds were basically Saffiedine kicking Marquardt's leg over and over, to the point that Nate's leg turned purple. Nate was limping on it and finally showed some desperation in the fourth, but he was fighting on a bad wheel by then. Saffiedine was in control going into the last round.

The last round in Strikeforce history saw Saffiedine turning it on, landing more kicks and looking to finish the fight. There was a lot of clinch work as well, which slowed the pace, but Marquardt was too damaged to pull off the miracle comeback either way. Saffiedine even got a takedown late for good measure. The Dan Henderson protege closed out the win and became the last Strikeforce welterweight champion.