Yushin Okami has requested a rematch with reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva after defeating Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision at UFC 122 "Marquardt vs. Okami."

Okami jabbed and clinched his way to victory today in front of 8500 fans at the Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. At the end of the third and final round, the three judges gave the victory to the Japanese fighter with scores that read 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28. It was his 10th win in 12 UFC appearances.

The victory confirms Okami as one of the best 185-pound fighters in the world and, by his own reckoning, he is now in line for a title shot. After the fight, Okami used his time at the press conference to ask match-maker Joe Silva for another shot at the middleweight crown.

"Nate is a great fighter," Okami said. "I felt I deserved it, and I'm ready to fight for the championship. I want to fight Anderson for (the) championship, and I want to become the middleweight champion."

The highly anticipated fight started off tentatively with both fighters feeling each other out before Okami shot in for a takedown which Marquardt turned into a guillotine attempt. This resulted in the majority of the round being fought on the ground with both fighters exchanging top position. Marquardt attempted two more submissions before the bell - another guillotine and a heel hook - with the latter submission attempt being used by Okami to return the fight to its feet.

The second round was slower than the first with Okami repeatedly attempting to take the American down with successive attempts. This often resulted in the fight being stalled against the cage with Marquardt showing an improved take down defence.

Okami was successful with several take downs in both the second and third rounds and may have swayed the judges in both rounds with these actions. When Marquardt was able to keep the fight standing Okami often thwarted Marquardt's advances with a stiff jab. This resulted in frustrating the Grudge Training Centre fighter as well as scoring crucial pints in the stand up battle.

Okami opened up a cut on Marquardt's cheek at the beginning of the third round with repeated jabs; this was followed by a clinch against the cage where both fighters traded elbows and knees.

Marquardt managed to get another takedown with 90 seconds remanding in the fight but it was to no avail as Okami had done enough to assure victory. Okami's ability to avoid damage was evident throughout the fight, with the Team Quest fighter showing minimal signs of being in a three-round war.

"I didn't take any damage, so I didn't think much of (the takedown)," said Okami in between thanking the German crowd for their support. "I'm glad I won the fight."

Russian-born German Dennis Siver made light work of "The Ultimate Fighter" finalist Andre Winner in the co-main event of the evening.  Siver was able to slip a rear naked choke on his opponent 3 minutes, 37 seconds into the first round to gain the victory in front of his home crowd.

The bout replaced the original fight between Jorge Rivera-Alessio Sakara at the top-end of the card after Sakara withdrew with "flu-like" symptoms.

"It was my duty to win here," Siver said through his translator. "It was the most important thing in my life."

Winner was able to get the better of the stand-up battle in the opening round, landing several right hands to the German's body and face. Siver was able to regroup, however, and put together a strong three-punch combination that dropped the Brit and Winner was unable to recover. Siver landed several hammer fists before making a smooth transition to the back and finishing the fight with a modified rear naked choke.

Siver's performance showed that his jiu-jitsu is improving as he gains more time in the cage.

"I've been training a lot of jiu-jitsu lately," said the German, a winner in six of his past seven appearances, "and I wanted to try it out in the ring, whether it works or not."

The bonus awards for the night were $60,000 and were given for fight of the night, knockout of the night and submission of the night. Fight of the night went to German Pascal Krauss and Mark Scanlon with Krauss being awarded a unanimous decision victory. Knockout of the night went to Carlos Vemola for his first round stoppage of Seth ‘the silver back' Petruzelli. Dennis Siver received submission-of-the-night honours for his rear naked choke on Winner.