NATE MARQUARDT

*Nate Marquardt* - UFC Deluxe 2 Jakks UFC Toy MMA Action Figure	UFC *Nate Marquardt* Fathead
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Born on April 20, 1979, Nathan Joel Marquardt is a three time Middleweight King of Pancrase Champion and currently has an impressive record of 31-10-2.

Training

Nate Marquardt began his training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, and kenpro when he was just a teenager. He took up freestyle wrestling three years later and trained under BJJ expert, Ricardo Murgel. He now has a second degree black belt under Murgel.

Though he was very active in sports through high school, it was not until Marquardt saw the UFC that he actually got involved in MMA.

Nate also trained with Sanae Kikuta and the GRABAKA Dojo in Tokyo, Japan, under Shane Pitts, earning his black belt in Japanese Ju-Jitsu. He also trained under Mike VanArsdale in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Beginning his MMA career in 1999 and in 2000, Nate Marquardt won the Pancrase Middleweight title for the first time. He was the youngest fighter to win the title at that time.

By 2005, seven more Pancrase title fights were won by Marquardt. He left Pancrase holding the champion title to pursue his dreams of fighting for the UFC.

Almaeida Incident

Early on, Nate Marquardt was involved in an altercation. It happened at a Pancrase middleweight title fight against Ricardo Almeida. Marquardt was caught in a guillotine choke when he tapped out.

The choke was not released even though the referee tried to separate the two. Once freed, Nate threw a punch at Ameida's face which led to both corners rushing into the ring including Renzo Gracie who was cornering Aleida. Gracie proceeded to kick Nate in the face.

After the confrontation, however, Marquardt congratulated Almeida and when Rcardo vacated his championship title in 2004, Nate Marquardt actually won the spot over Kazuo Misaki.

UFC

When Nate won the seventh Pancrase middleweight championship in May of 2005, he was the first to ever do so which got the UFC's attention.

By August, he made his UFC debut on Spike TV at Ultimate Fight Night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nate Marquardt won the fight against Ivan Salaverry but the bout would not be without controversy. Marquardt tested positive for high levels of nandrolone and was given a six month probation which was later reduced to five.

Marguardt maintains his innocence in the incident, stating that he only used over-the-counter supplements.

UFC 58 was Nate's first fight after the ordeal on March 4, 2006. He faced off with Joe Doerksen and won via unanimous decision five minutes into round three.

In October, Nate not only won over Crafton Wallace in Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3, he also gave up his title of middleweight King of Pancrase in order to pursue his UFC career.

Marquardt came on strong with a win at UFC Fight Night 8 over the ADCC champ, Dean Lister.

Nate was 4-0 in the UFC when he met up with Anderson Silva on July 7, 2007 at UFC 73. Silva took the fight via technial knockout due to strikes.

Affliction Nate Diaz UFC 125 Fillmore Walkout T-Shirt

The next fight was set against Thales Leites for UFC 81: Breaking Point but Leites withdrew due to a hand injury. That was the second fight between the two that had been cancelled.

Jeremy Horn turned out to be Nates contender instead and a guillotine choke won the bout for Marquardt in round two.

Finally, Leites and Marquardt met in the ring at UFC 85.

It was not a clean fight, however.

An illegal knee strike to the he head deducted points from Nate and then in the third round, an elbow to the side of the head was mistaken for an elbow to the back of the head and again, points were deducted, leaving Leites the winner in a controversial split decision.

Replays clearly showed the last call was a bad one but nevertheless, Leites remained the winner which secured a title shot for him against Anderson Silva.

It took no time, 82 seconds in fact, for Nate to cream Martin Kampmann by TKO on September 6, 2009 at UFC 88: Breakthrough.

Yet another TKO was in the line up for Nate. At UFC 95 he took Brazilian fighter Wilson Gouveia in the third round.

Now making a name for himself in the UFC, Marquardt faced off with the then-undefeated submission specialist Bad Boy Demian Maia at UFC 102. Only 21 seconds into round one, Nate won by knockout.

Nate's next fight would determine the number one contender to Anderson Silva's UFC Middleweight Championship title. Chael Sonnen was Marquradt's opponent. Unfortunately for Nate, he was not able to get a lock on his guillotiine choke therefore leaving the submission attempt unfinished resulting in a loss by unanimous decision.

GREASING

UFC Fight Night 22 took place on September 15, 2010. wtih Nate vs. Rousimar Palhares. It would turn out to be yet another controversial fight for Nate. Three minutes and twenty-eight seconds into the first round, Marquardt won, TKO.

It was during that few minutes during the fight that Nate slipped his leg free of a heel-hook that stirred up all the ruckus.

Once Nate had escaped from his grips, Palhares signaled to the referee and complained that Nate was greased.

While Palhares was busy complaining, Nate was busy finishing him off with a flurry of punches.

It was determined that Nate had actually passed a greasing test prior to entering the ring and Palhares later apologized.

Two months later, Nate was back in the ring at UFC 122 on November 13 against Yushin Okami. The winner would get the next shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship. Marquardt lost by a unanimous decision.

But UFC 128 on March 19 would serve for redemption. Facing off with Dan Miller, who is the older brother of MMA fighter, Jim Miller, Nate took the fight by unanimous decision five minutes into the third round.

Release From UFC

It was suggested by Marquardt's team mate, Georges St-Pierre, that he drop down to 170 pounds so that he could fight in the Welterweight Division. Nate took the suggestion to heart and was set to fight Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4 but pulled out the day of the weigh-ins because he did not get his medical clearance. As a result, it was later announced by UFC President, Dana White, that Nate was released by the UFC due to failing medical requirements.

The medical clearance has become quite the controversy. All in all, Nate claimed he had a medical issue which required the use of hormone replacement therapy. His doctor back that up and the New Jersey State Commission upheld it as well but announced also that he must go off of the therapy for ten weeks and then have his levels retested by a specialist.

In the meantime, Nate underwent a testosterone injection for the Rick Story fight which caused his levels to be too high according to the Pennsylvania Commission. Al- though Nate says his levels were actually down in time for the fight once he retook the test and that the commission lifted his suspension.

Where is Nate Now?

Marquardt signed with top U.K. fight promotion BAMMA which is the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts and was set to fight Yosida on February 11, 2012 but on January 13 he was released from his contract. It is speculated that BAMMA could not afford the amount of money Nate required for the fight.

Where Does it Go From Here? Nate is a current free agent at the present which could prove beneficial to him. On January 27, Dana White was quoted as saying, "I don't dislike Nate," White responded to MMA Fighting. "I like Nate very much. We'll see what happens." And so just as White said...we'll see what happens.
Outside of the Ring

Nate lives in Colorado and has a wife, Tessa and one daughter by her and one from a previous marriage. He resides in Colorado and trains in Denver with Greg Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts team and runs High Altitude Martial Arts based in Auroro, Colorado where teammate Brendan Schaub got his start in MMA.

What Does Nate Wear?