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Former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt signs with British promotion BAMMA
Jul 22, 2011 - 8:39:41 PM Former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt signs with British promotion BAMMA

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By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist

Well that didn't take long.

Following his (temporary) suspension by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission, Nate Marquardt found himself out of a contract with the UFC for the first time since 2005. He was terminated after failing to get his testosterone levels back within normal range before his fight that was to be the main event of UFC Live 4 on Versus against Rick Story on June 26th. But after having his suspension lifted just days after being cut from the UFC, the embattled former middleweight title challenger has a new home.

Despite overtures made by CEO Bjorn Rebney, and flat out being challenged by both middleweight champion Hector Lombard and welterweight champion Ben Askren, Bellator will not be Marquardt's next destination.

That distinction belongs to U.K. promotion BAMMA, who announced the acquisition on their website. The promotion has run six shows thus far and has a seventh scheduled for September 10th from the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham England.

No date or opponent were announced for Marquardt's debut fight, nor was which division he would be competing in. He spent his entire UFC career at middleweight, but was set to drop down to 170 and make his promotional welterweight debut against Story before his suspension. He has stated his desire to continue his career at welterweight.


Pelkey's Analysis: Makes sense for Marquardt. He gets to beat up on some overmatched opponents and make a few test cuts to 170 while he reads the tea leaves on whether the UFC brass (ok, Dana White) will ever soften their stance on his return. The biggest possible fight BAMMA could put on at this point is Marquardt vs. Paul Daley (either once his Strikeforce contract is up or, less likely, if he's allowed to fight outside Strikeforce since his contract is still supposedly non-exclusive) in a battle of ousted-for-life-from-the-UFC fighters. Hey, the tagline would be easy; BAMMA 9: Banned. My guess is his first opponent is someone sightly less "marquee" than Daley though.