Ottke fight

After the other Dane Mads Larsen lost his fight to Sven Ottke, Markussen was demanded by the Danish media to win fight against the undefeated German. Two undefeated fighters - Ottke (28-0, 5 KO) and Markussen (27-0, 16 KO) - facing each other for the IBF Super Middleweight title. With Ottke's 15 title defenses, the Dane was on paper clearly the underdog. But Markussen showed he wanted the title, and many commentators and experts thought that Markussen deserved the win. All three judges scored the bout 116-112 in favor of Sven Ottke.

Switching from Mogens Palle to Team Sauerland

After Markussen temporarily stopped his career after a car accident, he also criticized his promoter Mogens Palle for being selfish and destroying his career. Markussen meant that Mogens Palle didn't give him enough money. Both men have criticized each other in the media.^[1]

After Markussen made his comeback in 2010, he signed a contract with German Team Sauerland.^[2] with Sauerland featuring him in his last 2 fights on their Viasat Nordic Fight Night cards.

Magee fight

In February 2012, Rudy was going to face the reigning WBA regular champion Brian Magee in Brøndby Hallen, Denmark. It was the same story as the Ottke-fight in 2002, that the other Dane Mads Larsen met the same man, but both Danes lost. This time Markussen had to take revenge for Mads Larsen against Brian Magee. It was the second time in his career the Dane was going into a World title-fight. The last time was in 2002 when he faced Sven Ottke for the IBF Super Middleweight title.
Before the Magee fight, Markussen hadn't lost any fight since he temporarily stopped his career in 2006. But Magee changed all that in the fifth round with a punch to the liver. Markussen couldn't take that and was knocked out.^[3]