Nate Marquardt was scheduled to make his UFC welterweight debut against the up and coming Rick Story on the UFC on Versus 4 fight card on Sunday, June 26. Hours prior to the weigh-in, news broke that the former middleweight title contender had bee…
Nate Marquardt was scheduled to make his UFC welterweight debut against the up and coming Rick Story on the UFC on Versus 4 fight card on Sunday, June 26.
Hours prior to the weigh-in, news broke that the former middleweight title contender had been scratched from the card.
That news was quickly followed by a Twitter video post from UFC president Dana White. White said that not only had Marquardt been scratched from the card, but he had been released by the UFC.
The news was a shock and the reason behind why Marquardt was scratched from Sunday’s fight card and subsequently released by the UFC has not yet come to light.
Marquardt is planning on speaking about the reasons for his current situation on Tuesday, June 28.
Until that announcement comes, Bleacher Report will keep you up to date on all the Nate Marquardt news.
At this point, just about every MMA fan in North America is overtly anxious to discover the reasoning behind the fallout centered on Nate Marquardt and the UFC (particularly, president Dana White). What we know, at this point, is extremely limited.Nate…
At this point, just about every MMA fan in North America is overtly anxious to discover the reasoning behind the fallout centered on Nate Marquardt and the UFC (particularly, president Dana White). What we know, at this point, is extremely limited.
Nate Marquardt was forced out of his scheduled bout with Rick Story just hours before the scheduled weigh-ins for reasons unspecified. We do, at this point, know that Nate had some “issues” with his pre-fight medical exams.
We also know that, whatever the infraction may truly be, it was serious enough to earn walking papers from Dana White, who claims Marquardt, a longtime top-tier competitor and solid draw, disgusted him with his actions.
White asserts that it’s up to Nate to disclose the details of the unfortunate falling out. If all goes well, we’ll hear the truth surface later today, in which Marquardt has a press release slated.
Thus far, we’ve seen some wild ideas surface from the inner workings of the MMA field. Some pretty bold rumors have surfaced as well, but there shouldn’t be too much invested in some of these claims…right?
One interesting tidbit to emerge online is the following bit of information, which was posted on the popular Underground forum, by someone claiming to be close to Nate and his camp.
“Nate held back medical info about an ongoing personal problem/disease. Nate contracted Hep B. Nobody knows how he got it but, he has Hep B and Hep B is not forever, it can be shaken off in time but, everyone is different and heals at a different rate “Look up HEP B for those of you who don’t know what it is or for those of you whom may think it’s forever”. He was supposed to be evaluated by the commission’s Dr’s and he was dodging them until the last minute because he’s embarrassed about his disease. Yes it was wrong but, we all thought he had shaken it. Since he decided to wait till the last minute to get cleared by the Dr’s and was dodging phone calls all the way up to 5 hours before the event is why Dana White is pissed. We hope Dana takes a second look at this and we will continue to have Nate’s back through this tuff situation. Stay tuned tomorrow afternoon to a more in depth response from Nate himself… Sorry guys and thanks. Nate is going nowhere but to the top of the MMA world….”
Those are some serious allegations. While Hepatitis B is curable (acute, not chronic, which is still manageable), it’s a serious health factor. To withhold that kind of information isn’t just potentially dangerous, it’s extremely unprofessional. Embarrassed or not, that’s something that should be brought to the forefront of the situation.
In other interesting news-flow, popular MMA scribe, and well known orthopedic spine surgeon Johnny Benjamin hit his twitter account earlier to unleash this interesting bit of 411:
“UFC Nate Marquardt got suspended. I reviewed the PA medical forms. Most likely cause for the suspension is…Refusal to take drug test!!” – @DrJCBenjamin
Why Benjamin is privy to these medical forms is a bit out of my realm of understanding, but that’s a significant statement that lends credence to the above statement.
Who knows the real truth behind this mind boggling mystery?
We all do, in just hours, if Nate’s scheduled statement goes as planned!
UFC Live Aftermath: PSAC Says Marquardt’s Issue Was Not a Failed Drug TestBleacher Report’s John Heinis:While various questions still remain in regards to Nate Marquardt’s bizarre failed medical test situation, PSAC executive director Gregory Sirb …
UFC Live Aftermath: PSAC Says Marquardt’s Issue Was Not a Failed Drug Test
Additionally, Sirb indicated that Marquardt was actually licensed to fight in the main event of UFC on Versus 4.
“He was licensed. He completed all of his paperwork for licensing probably a week before,” Sirb clarified.
Unfortunately for Nate “The Great,” licensing in any state comes pending with a passed set of medical tests.
As fans, fighters, and analysts alike anxiously await for the former middleweight contender to address the situation on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour,” Sirb explained:
Bleacher Report’s MMA news recap for Monday June 27:Info on Nate Marquardt’s Suspension.Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger possible.Cheick Kongo drops Pat Barry Video.Worst injury ever at Miguel Torres’ gym.Junior dos Santos’ coach says he is ready to b…
Bleacher Report’s MMA news recap for Monday June 27:
Info on Nate Marquardt’s Suspension.
Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger possible.
Cheick Kongo drops Pat Barry Video.
Worst injury ever at Miguel Torres’ gym.
Junior dos Santos’ coach says he is ready to be UFC champion.
The reasoning behind Nate Marquardt’s failure to pass his required medical examinations is shrouded with more mystery than a Sherlock Holmes novel. A day after firing the former middleweight contender, UFC President Dana White sounded off on the UFC on…
The reasoning behind Nate Marquardt’s failure to pass his required medical examinations is shrouded with more mystery than a Sherlock Holmes novel.
A day after firing the former middleweight contender, UFC President Dana White sounded off on the UFC on Versus 4 pre-fight show.
He stated that he was upset with Marquardt for not addressing the issues handed down to him by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission (PSAC).
According to White and the PSAC, they are legally bound from releasing details on the situation, and it’s completely up to Marquardt whether or not he wants to explain the situation to the fans.
“Pennsylvania laws are unfortunate that the commission can’t come out and announce medical records or medical situations with fighters, but I think it’s pretty clear to the fans and everybody else that I’m pretty disgusted with Nate Marquardt. He’s been cut from the UFC. He won’t fight in the UFC ever again,” White told Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com.
“Bottom line is, what Nate Marquardt’s thing is, it’s bad enough to be cut from the UFC.”
While White has his issues with Marquardt, he believes that the fans have a right to know why the former title contender failed to pass his medical examinations. The ball is in Marquardt’s court. If anything, White hopes Marquardt will ‘man up’ and come clean about the situation.
“Nate Marquardt’s gonna have to man up and come out and tell the world why he didn’t pass his medicals.” said White. “When he does that, I think everybody is going to understand why he was cut from the UFC.”
While various questions still remain in regards to Nate Marquardt’s bizarre failed medical test situation, PSAC executive director Gregory Sirb told MMA Fighting that Marquardt did not fail a drug test. Additionally, Sirb indicated that Marquardt…
Additionally, Sirb indicated that Marquardt was actually licensed to fight in the main event of UFC on Versus 4.
“He was licensed. He completed all of his paperwork for licensing probably a week before,” Sirb clarified.
Unfortunately for Nate “The Great,” licensing in any state comes pending with a passed set of medical tests.
As fans, fighters, and analysts alike anxiously await for the former middleweight contender to address the situation on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour,” Sirb explained:
“I’ve been here 22 years and we do not embarrass anybody,” Sirb said. “But we would have said, ‘drug test,’” indicating that Marquardt was not in violation of any banned substance policy.
This makes the situation even more puzzling, as UFC President Dana White fired Marquardt almost immediately after he was not cleared to take on Rick Story at UFC Live.
Sirb also wanted to bring light to the fact that “He knew full well what the ramifications were, whether licensed or not.”
After exploring the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission website, MMA Fighting concluded that:
While in the course of applying for a license, a professional fighter must provide a negative HIV, Hepatitis C, and Hepatitis B surface antigen exam. The must also provide the results of an annual medical exam.”
The medical exam looks to discover any medical problems pertaining to “vision, lungs, heart rate, the nervous system, coordination, and more that could disqualify a fighter from competition.”
Pennsylvania state law (the federal HIPPA laws to be exact) considers the results of these tests the private medical information of the fighter.
However, those same laws do not “prohibit the disclosure of a positive drug test result, nor the type of drug which led to a confirmed positive test.”
Marquardt’s statement will no doubt answer some questions, but will he choose to answer them all?