MMAjunkie.com confirmed earlier today that Nate Marquardt did not receive medical clearance to fight in the main event against Rick Story for UFC on VS 4 in Pittsburgh this coming Sunday.
The fight would have been Marquardt’s welterweight debut.
Details aren’t out as to exactly why he wasn’t medically cleared to fight and whether or not it had to do with the weight cut down to 170 pounds remains unknown.
Shortly after the announcement Dana White addressed the public by Tweeting a video stating that Marquardt will no longer be with the UFC.
Obviously this is bad news for the UFC and the card for tomorrow night will now feature Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry as the main event.
Marquardt can’t be happy to find out that he is out of a job for the time being.
Fans were looking forward to Marquardt’s debut.
All things considered, the real loser this weekend is welterweight up and comer Rick Story.
Aside from a decision loss to John Hathaway in his UFC debut, Story is riding a six-fight winning streak that saw him take down the likes of welterweight up-and-comers Johny Hendricks and Dustin Hazelett and most recently a win over UFC veteran and former number one contender Thiago Alves—Story is on a roll.
When Marquardt’s original opponent Anthony Johnson was forced to step out it didn’t take long for Story to jump on the opportunity even if it meant fighting twice in less than a month.
A win over Marquardt was just the thing Story needed to launch him to the next level. Back to back wins over Alves and Marquardt would have been enough to start talking title contention.
With Marquardt pulling out, Story is now faced with having taken a fight on short notice against Charlie Brenneman—a guy who is only three fights into his UFC career and not a big name on anybody’s radar just yet.
In other words, fighting Brenneman is a step down from Story’s last opponent Alves and not the fight that is going to get him into title contention even if he wins.
One has to wonder if Story would have accepted the fight on short notice had he known it would be against Brenneman and not Marquardt.
A fight with Brenneman is a risky affair for Story.
Win or lose against Marquardt, the risk would have been worth the reward.
If Story beat Marquardt he would have been that much closer to a title shot; should he have lost, people knew he took the fight on short notice—and Marquardt being a former number-one contender in the next weight class up meant it was okay to lose to him.
Against Brenneman there isn’t much upside besides another win in the win column and a loss to him would be devastating.
Brenneman is only 2-1 in the UFC and he took the fight against Story on less than a day’s notice. If Story loses this fight it will put him at the back of the line—something a loss to Marquardt would have never done.
Although a win over Brenneman won’t mean much aside from extending a win streak, Story has to treat the fight with as much importance as his fight with Thiago Alves and the fight he was supposed to have with Marquardt—a loss to Brenneman could be a turning point in Story’s young career.
Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: 
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