A representative of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission will be meeting with the media at 4 p.m ET/1 p.m. PT today to address the UFC on Versus 4 card. The rep is apparently going to shed some light on the Nate Marquardt situation, although it is unknown at this time how much information will be provided. BloodyElbow.com will provide you with live updates from the Q&A right here.
As most of you know by now, Nate Marquardt failed his medicals and was removed from his main-event fight with Rick Story on Saturday afternoon, just before the official weigh-ins. Not long after that, UFC president Dana White posted a video that said Nate would no longer fight for the UFC as well. Charlie Brenneman was moved up to replace Marquardt while Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo was moved into the main event position. There has been no word from anyone about the Marquardt situation as of yet, other than a tweet from Nate himself this morning:
I’m sorry to all my fans and the UFC for not passing the medicals for tonight’s fight. I’m heart broken I couldn’t fight, but I will b back
Check back here for live updates of the Q&A.
UPDATE at 4:24 p.m. ET – There has been nothing reported from the scene yet. Either the scrum was delayed, or they lack internet/3G access to provide updates on-site. As soon as something comes through we’ll bring it along to you.
UPDATE at 4:39 p.m ET – Sorry folks, multiple media members said they’d live-tweet but none of them did. I apologize for the lack of information right now. Once they choose to pass their information on, we’ll have it here.
UPDATE at 4:44 p.m ET: Ariel Helwani tweets:
Here’s what Greg Sirb, the executive director of the PA commission, said regarding Nate Marquardt:
Nate failed the medical requirements for the fight and was put on suspension by the PA athletic commission until he provides a medical …
report showing that he’s satisfied those requirements. He was given every opportunity to meet the requirements …
… up until Saturday at 3 pm. The Athletic commission is not free to disclose what requirements he failed to meet.
The suspension is indefinite. As soon as Marquardt can provide what they are looking for, he will not be suspended anymore. …
Of course, I tried to ask multiple times why he failed the test, but Sirb said that was all he was going to discuss and the rest is up to NM
Ariel also reports that Nate himself will not be on the pre-show on Versus to talk about whatever this is.
To my loyal fans please show your love & support for me by watching tonight’s UFC Card on Versus
We have a statement from his camp. RT @purrlinda: Are the reports that he was going to make a statement tonight on the show incorrect?
UPDATE at 5:04 p.m. ET – MMAWeekly reports some quotes from Sirb:
“Nate has known for probably about a month and a half, he knew the situation, it was no surprise. Everybody (including the UFC) knew. Everybody’s known, I think everybody assumed he was going to be able to qualify,” Sirb said.
“I thought he would (qualify), I really did.”
“We’ve known about it and we gave him every opportunity, the last report we got was 3 o’clock yesterday, we gave him as much leeway as we could, obviously we’ve got a live event, you’ve got to make the call. The UFC made the call when we said no he’s not going to meet it,” Sirb commented.
“We can’t say anything, this state is real tight on those types of laws, HIPPA laws are very strict. If Nate’s here, I don’t know if he’s here or not, he’s free to talk,” Sirb stated.
“I told him I felt for the kid. I really did. He knew about it, he was trying and he missed out on a big payday,” Sirb said about Marquardt.
“He needs to show us a new report, if that report comes in and it meets our requirements, it could be tomorrow and we’ll take him off. It could be 2 months, but it’s an indefinite suspension until he brings in that report we’re looking for.”
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