Ultimate Fighting Championship

Gastelum stops Marquardt in two rounds at UFC 188

Published Jun. 13, 2015 11:25 p.m. ET

Elias Cepeda

Kelvin Gastelum earned the biggest win of his career Saturday night when he stopped former world title challenger Nate Marquardt via TKO. Marquardt took a lot of damage for two rounds and had trouble getting back to his feet, after two periods.

Before the third round could begin, the fight was stopped. Gastelum got back on track after missing weight and losing a decision last December to Tyron Woodley.

Marquardt's corner Trevor Whitman called a stop to the fight. Truly rare to see seconds actually look out for the well-being of their charges in that way.

Marquardt was unable to get any offense going through two rounds and was unlikely to be able to in the final round, given the damage he sustained. In the first round, Gastelum patiently sought the takedown, got it, and moved straight to dominant position.

Gastelum took Nate's back and landed lots of strikes. Back on their feet, Gastelum landed a hard knee to the gut that hurt and froze Marquardt.

Gastelum followed up with hard punches to the head and Marquardt was only able to cover up. In the second round, Gastelum dropped Marquardt to the mat with knees to the clinch.

Marquardt continued to eat more shots, up against the fence. He courageously got up but was blasted back down to the ground, where the round, and fight, ended.

The win improved Gastelum's record to 11-1. Marquardt has now lost two straight, and five out of his last six, with his impressive career mark falling to 33-15-2.

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