Nate Marquardt is mired in the middleweight shuffle.

Despite a 4-0 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and 28 pro victories in mixed martial arts, Marquardt has yet to get his ticket punched for a UFC title fight.

After his last performance in the octagon, however, the wait might finally be over.

At Ultimate Fight Night 8 in January, Marquardt dominated submission specialist Dean Lister, knocking him around the cage en route to a unanimous-decision victory. Demonstrating a potent stand-up attack, Marquardt sent Lister to the mat five times in the fight, leading two judges to score the mismatch 30-25.

"That was one of the best-executed game plans I've ever seen," said Greg Jackson, who trains Marquardt out of his Albuquerque, N.M., camp. "He went out and played his game and kept Lister from his. That's what fighting is all about."

Winning is what the 27-year-old Marquardt is all about. A pro since 1999, Marquardt owned the middleweight division of Pancrase, a Japan-based MMA organization, earlier in his career. He's the only fighter to be a seven-time King of Pancrase champion.

Marquardt jumped to the UFC in 2005 and has yet to be challenged in four fights. But while other middleweights such as Chris Leben and Mike Swick have had the bright lights of The Ultimate Fighter reality show to build a following, Marquardt's time in front of the cameras has been limited.

"I think he's underexposed but not underappreciated," Jackson said. "I know the UFC likes him, but I'm not sure why his fight (against Lister) wasn't on TV."

Marquardt is arguably the best under-the-radar talent in the UFC. He started training in jiu-jitsu as a 100-pound high school sophomore and now holds a black belt in the Brazilian fighting discipline. He also has evolved his striking and wrestling skills to become one of the best-rounded fighters in MMA — one worthy of a title shot.

"I believe it's time, but I'm not going to worry about when I'm going to get my shot," said Marquardt, who lives in Denver. "I know it's going to happen."

Marquardt credits much of his continued development as a mixed martial artist to the group of fighters who constantly challenge him. Jackson has built an MMA juggernaut, with the likes of Diego Sanchez, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans and Joey Villasenor training with Marquardt on a regular basis.

"I'm in Albuquerque about half the time, if not more," said the soft-spoken Marquardt, who talks about fighting with politeness usually reserved for dinner-table chatter. "It makes you mentally strong going into a fight knowing that you've worked with those guys. We're all pushing each other and trying to make each other better."

However, the one thing missing among "Jackson's Five" is a UFC title. Who will be the first to bring a belt back to Albuquerque is an oft-discussed topic during downtime in the gym.

Marquardt is likely to get the first crack. After the victory against Lister, UFC President Dana White said Marquardt would get a title fight. It could come later this year.

Couture trains big

Randy Couture is calling in the big guns to help him train for his fight next month against UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.

Couture, who was lured out of a yearlong retirement by another shot at the heavyweight crown, is bringing in a sampling of MMA big men to help him prepare for the 6-foot-8 Sylvia. Wes Sims, Gan McGee, Dan Evans and Dan Christison are among the bruisers leaning on "The Natural" in his Las Vegas training camp.

Couture, 43, is the only fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, having held the heavyweight and light heavyweight belts. However, he lost his last two heavyweight fights and cited the emergence of super-big fighters, such as Sylvia, as the primary reason he chose to move to the 205-pound division.

"I'm a smarter fighter now and better equipped to handle taller heavyweights," Couture said.

Couture and Sylvia square off in the main event of UFC 68 on March 3.

Steve Sievert covers mixed martial arts for the Chronicle.