Breaking MMA News: Nate Marquardt Signs With BAMMA

If you listened to MTR last night, then you heard our interview with Alchemist MMA President Lex McMahon. Lex represents Nate “The Great” Marquardt, and told us that today Nate would have a major announcement regarding the future of his MMA career.

Well folks, that announcement came bright and early this morning, as it was let loose that Marquardt has signed a multifight deal with the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts, otherwise known as BAMMA.

As we all know, this comes right on the heels of his firing from the UFC. Marquardt (31-10-2) was employed by the UFC from 2005 through a few weeks ago, when he withdrew a day before his scheduled fight against Nick Story. A New Jersey State Athletic Control Board blood test had revealed elevated levels of testosterone, that Nate later attributed to hormone replacement therapy. Dana White fired Marquardt via Twitter.

Nate told ESPN.com this morning: “I’m very excited to be working with BAMMA. They hold sports regulation in high regard and mandate it for their athletes. They are also known for signing top-level fighters and I want to fight the best. I can’t wait to show everyone what I’m capable of in the welterweight division.”

Both Bellator Fighting Championship and ProElite had showed interest in Marquardt after the incident, but it didn’t work out with either U.S. promotion.

Good turn of events for BAMMA, who has now scooped him up. The organization’s Vice President, Liam Fisher told ESPN.com: “It’s huge for us because Nate is a world-class fighter. He’s a very legitimate and current fighter. We’re trying to grow and be a big organization. Having people like Nate on the roster means we can achieve that.”

BAMMA joined the UK MMA scene in 2009, and has a great lineup of fighters, including another fired-by-Dana special, Paul “Semtex” Daley. Fisher did give a hint that BAMMA’s newest fighter is probably in line for title contention. Marqurdt vs. Daley would be a great draw – but let’s see if that happens.

I am glad to see that things are looking up for Nate, as I feel he got a bum rap from Dana with the whole firing.  But, Dana is Dana, and we shouldn’t expect anything less.