UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story has suddenly become UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry in one of the stranger and most last-minute pre-fight twists you’ll ever see.
It turns out that all is not right with Nate Marquardt; the Great mysteriously failed to get medical clearance for his main event bout with Rick “The Horror” Story on Saturday and has consequently been scratched from the headliner. Not only that, but Marquardt was also cut from the organization according to the video blog posted by UFC President Dana White (shown above).
Talk about a dramatic change of events.
The fourth installment of the UFC on Versus just lost, by far, it’s most titillating fight and the organization just booted one of its heretofore “good soldiers.”
Marquardt was a serious player at middleweight, was theoretically being groomed to assume that same mantle at welterweight and had never elicited anything less than glowing praise for his attitude as well as professionalism.
And now he’s nothing but a UFC memory.
Oops.
Meanwhile, UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry was left scrambling to pick up the pieces, ultimately thrusting the underwhelming matchup between heavyweight strikers Cheick Kongo and Pat “HD” Barry into the main event. That’s not to say the tussle won’t be exciting or a feast for the senses—the brutish duo can certainly light up an arena—but the outcome simply won’t move the needle as far as the other 265-pound contenders are concerned.
The one-dimensional Kongo is playing out the back nine of his MMA career at the age of 36 while HD is only flirting at the fringes of legitimacy at this point.
All is not lost as there are other bouts on the card that offer some juice if you’re looking for genuine heirs to various thrones—Matt “Meathead” Mitrione’s date with Christian “World of” Morecraft deserves a mention here as does Rick Story’s continued presence (he’ll fight Charlie “The Spaniard” Brenneman now).
Nevertheless, the shocking turn of events stings both the UFC and the fans, and it does so badly.
Which explains Dana White’s barely contained anger in the video and Nate Marquardt’s quick exile from the highest echelon of the sport.
It also guarantees that this isn’t the last we’ve heard on the matter, so stay tuned.