It has been more than a day since it was announced that Nate Marquardt was not cleared to fight Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4 this evening and has subsequently been released from The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
While the exact reason behind Nate being pulled from the fight is still unknown, UFC President Dana White has finally weighed in on the situation.
White and Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission executive Gregory Sirb have both stressed that they are not at liberty to reveal the specifics and that it was up to Nate to reveal the reason if he wants to.
However, Dana did have the following to say about the situation, courtesy of MMAjunkie.com:
“The thing that’s going on with Nate Marquardt, Pennsylvania laws are unfortunate in that the commission can’t come out and announce medical records or medical situations with fighters,” White said. “But I think it’s pretty clear to the fans and everybody else that I’m pretty disgusted with Nate Marqaurdt. He’s been cut from the UFC. He won’t fight in the UFC ever again.
“Bottom line is, what Nate Marquardt did is bad enough to be cut from the UFC. … I’m disgusted with him. He has no business fighting in the UFC.”
By the looks of it, the sometimes hasty Dana White will be sticking to his decision to release Marquardt.
The world of mixed martial arts is waiting in anticipation for Nate to explain the situation in full. No such explanation has been provided as of yet, but Marquardt’s camp did release a relatively vague statement.
“[Saturday], Nate Marquardt was not medically cleared by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission at UFC on Versus 4,” the statement read. “Nate was looking forward to making his welterweight debut and is disappointed by this unfortunate turn of events.
“Nate wants to apologize to his family, friends and fans of the UFC. This outcome was certainly not what he wanted. At this time, Nate wants to be with those closest to him so he can evaluate his situation over the coming days.”
His camp also stated that Marquardt will address this issue himself this coming Tuesday.
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