Earlier today the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts announced that former UFC contender Nate Marquardt, would not make his debut for the promotion as originally expected next month, but will do so rather in February. While the original news release did not offer any specific information as to why Marquardt’s debut has been postponed, FCF has since learned that the highly regarded fighter is healthy and was ready to fight.
The President of Alchemist Management Lex McMahon, who helps oversee Marquardt’s career, informed FCF that although they were disappointed that the 32 year-old-veteran will not be fighting next month, they “support BAMMA’s decision.”
Although Marquardt will no longer be competing at BAMMA 8 on December 10th, the promotion announced that the former middleweight will fight Japanese veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida for its vacant welterweight championship on February 11th.
McMahon confirmed that Marquardt was not injured, before adding that “BAMMA has been a pleasure to work with” and that “Nate is looking forward to putting on a great fight with Yoshida.”
BAMMA’s Media Relations department informed FCF that the postponement was due to the fact that “with only a handful of fighters around the world that are of Nate’s calibre, it’s all down to which fighters were willing and able to step up and take the challenge. Yoshida did exactly that but unfortunately only Feb 11th works for both guys.”
The promotion added that it is “confident that BAMMA 8 will be a great success”, a card that will feature several experienced vets, including Jim Wallhead, Joey Villasenor, Andre Winner and Dean Amasinger, among others.
BAMMA 8 will be hosted by Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena,
Marquardt (31-10-2) has not fought since March, 2011, when he worked his way to a unanimous decision win over Dan Miller at UFC 128. The accomplished fighter was released by the promotion this past June, after Marquardt was not cleared to compete at a UFC Live 4 event, just hours before he was set to fight Rick Story.
Marquardt reported afterwards that issues tied to his ongoing hormone replacement therapy were the reasons behind his medical suspension. The Pennsylvania Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt’s suspension a few weeks later and cleared the veteran to compete once again.
Yoshida (13-6) is coming off a UD win over Phil Baroni in September, while competing for One FC.
