Nate Marquardt and British promotion BAMMA have parted ways before they ever actually started to work together.
On Friday, the promotion announced that it had given Marquardt his release after they delayed their upcoming show in 2012, pushing it back from a Feb 11 date to March 24.
Because of the delay, Marquardt requested his release from the promotion and BAMMA granted it, splitting ways amicably.
“The decision to move the BAMMA 9 event to March 24th 2012 was taken in the interests of the BAMMA promotion as a whole and we believe that this will result in the strongest BAMMA event to date. It is important to note that the decision to remove Nate from the BAMMA 8 card and to reschedule BAMMA 9 in no way is a result of any actions taken by him. Nate was originally to feature on the BAMMA 8 card in December and with this current date change it is only fair for us at this stage to honor Nate’s contract agreement and allow him to look for fights outside of the BAMMA promotion,” BAMMA CEO David Green said in a press release issued on Friday.
“I cannot speak highly enough of the professional manner in which Nate Marquardt and his team have conducted themselves. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with and we are just disappointed that we have not been able to work out a way to seeing Nate take his place on the BAMMA 9 card.”
Marquardt’s manager Lex McMahon from Alchemist Management also spoke on the subject via the press release, wishing BAMMA the best in the future, but they had to sever ties after the multiple delays for his fighter getting the chance to compete again.
“Nate is disappointed that he has not been able to fight for BAMMA and the UK fans. However, given the situation that BAMMA removed him as the headliner from BAMMA 8 and have elected to reschedule BAMMA 9 to March 24, 2012 all parties concerned feel that it is in Nate’s best interest to explore other options at this stage. Nate is one of the best fighters in the world and looks forward to fighting the best competition possible. Both Nate and I wish BAMMA all the best in their future endeavors,” McMahon said.
Marquardt hasn’t fought since March 2011 in a win over Dan Miller at UFC 128. He was released from the UFC after failing a pre-fight drug test at UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh, and has been waiting to get back in action ever since.
There’s been no word on when or what promotion Marquardt will fight for next.
