Dana White promises Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen winner will get the next middleweight title shot

Promises, promises. UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the winner of Saturday’s UFC 109 showdown between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen will be the next to vie for the middleweight belt currently held by Anderson Silva. Of course, the last time White made such a statement it was to promise Dan Henderson a title shot if he beat Michael Bisping.

Marquardt is on a three fight winning streak, including a 21-second KO of Demian Maia, who was the last fighter to beat Sonnen, in his last bout. If he beats Sonnen – and he should – he certainly deserves a crack at the crown given Henderson’s departure for the greener pastures of Strikeforce and the relative thinness of the middleweight division.

Sonnen, on the other hand, I’m not buying as a viable top contender. He’s 3-3 in the UFC and his last fight a decision win over Yushin Okami, who was considered a contender himself until the loss. But Sonnen will have to show something he never has before – a truly dominating, beat-him-standing-up/beat-him-on-the-ground, end-it-before-it-goes-to-the-judges kind of performance – for me to think he deserves to fight for a belt. And that’s not likely against Marquardt, which will leave him more time to focus on his political campaign. He certainly knows how to handle himself like a politician during interviews, as you can see below. His comments about Anderson Silva at the 2:00 mark definitely pegs him as a Republican. And I love his comments about how well Silva can or can’t speak English that comes at the end of the clip. Hilarious.