Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. He is a three-time Middleweight Pancrase Champion and former UFC middleweight title contender.

As a middleweight (he now fights at welterweight), Marquardt was ranked the #4 best middleweight in the world by Sherdog and the #3 middleweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly. He runs the High Altitude Martial Arts Academy in Aurora, Colorado.

Marquardt began his professional mixed martial arts career in 1999, amassing victories in various promotions before entering the Bas Rutten Invitational 4 tournament, which was organized in such a manner that the tournament winner was to be offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Despite winning the tournament, Marquardt was offered no such contract. Instead, he signed with Japan's Pancrase organization, which had fostered such fighters as Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten. In his first Pancrase fight, Marquardt lost via submission to Genki Sudo.

Invited back to Pancrase for a middleweight elimination tournament, Marquardt defeated Daiju Takase, Kiuma Kunioku, and Shonie Carter to become the first middleweight King of Pancrase. Marquardt defended this title twice before being defeated by Kunioku in December 2001. A final encounter between the two fighters in December 2002 saw Marquardt defeat Kunioku once again to recapture the King of Pancrase championship, which he held for nearly a year.^{[citation needed]}

Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is a American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent. He is the former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, WEC and IFC Welterweight Champion. He has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships and Elite Xtreme Combat. Diaz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007. Diaz trains at the Diaz brother's Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Lodi, California. Diaz holds the distinction of having never been submitted, and has been finished by strikes only once in 35 fights. He is currently ranked the #4 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, ESPN, MMAWeekly, and USA Today.

Diaz was born in Stockton , California. He is the older brother of UFC fighter Nate Diaz. He went to Tokay High School in Lodi for one year before dropping out. While a freshman, he was a member of the swimming team. Diaz has stated in the past that he is thankful his mother got him into swimming classes because swimming is one of the main reasons why his cardio is so impressive during his fights. Diaz has also said on multiple occasions that he had a hard childhood and grew up without his biological father.

Jacob Steven Ellenberger (born March 28, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist and United States Marine. Ellenberger is signed to Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in its welterweight division. Ellenberger was an assistant coach at back to back Division II National Wrestling champs, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, until the program was shut down in 2011. Ellenberger trains at Reign Training Center in Orange County, CA with fellow UFC fighters Mark Munoz and Jason Miller. He holds notable wins over Jake Shields, Diego Sanchez, José Landi-Jons and Mike Pyle. Ellenberger is ranked #6 in the welterweight division by Sherdog.

Ellenberger made his debut for the IFL, losing a judges decision to Jay Hieron. In Ellenberger's second fight, he defeated Ben Uker at IFL: Championship Final. Ellenberger filled in on short notice for an injured Rory Markham and represented Pat Miletich's Quad City Silverbacks at the 2007 Team Championship Final. He suffered his only submission loss to Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Delson Heleno. In his last fight for the promotion, Ellenberger dominated his opponent, Pat Healy at IFL: Las Vegas.

Chael Patrick Sonnen (pronounced /ˈtʃeɪl ˈsʌnən/; born April 3, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, as well as a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

As of October 2011^[update], Sonnen is ranked as the No. 2 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.

Sonnen was born Chael Patrick Sonnen on April 3, 1977 in West Linn, Oregon.

Sonnen started his MMA career at the age of 19 in 1997 by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington. His second fight was against future ICON Sport Middleweight Champion and Strikeforce Middleweight contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Sonnen went 6–0 in his first six fights, until his loss to Trevor Prangley, which he later avenged in 2006 at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4. He also fought The Ultimate Fighter winner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin.

Rousimar Christian Palhares (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁowziˈmaʁ paˈʎaɾiʃ]; born February 20, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is known for leg locks, physical strength, and bizarre behavior during fights. His nickname Toquinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [toˈkĩɲu]), Portuguese for "little tree stump", comes from his short, stocky, heavily muscled build. Palhares' signature heel hook has been widely regarded as the single most effective and dangerous submission in the UFC.

Palhares grew up in abject poverty in the Brazilian countryside. He recalls working in the fields to help support his family as young as age seven and said that there were times where there was not enough food for everyone. He eventually had to leave his shanty and move underneath a local bridge in a tent city slum.

He claimed the Fury Fighting Championship middleweight title in December 2007 after defeating Flavio Mura, Pan-Am Jiu-Jitsu champion Fabio Negao, and Chute Boxe's Daniel Acacio in a tournament.

Palhares earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under former UFC champion Murilo Bustamante and Bebeo Duarte. Experts in martial arts touted Palhares as one of the most naturally gifted grapplers today.