UFC president Dana White told reporters at the UFC on Fox 2 post-press conference media scrum that he is not ready to reconsider Anthony Johnson in the UFC or Strikeforce but he appeared to be slightly more open to a return by Nate Marquardt.
MMA Fighting got White’s statements:
“(Johnson) needs to go fight somewhere else, get some wins, come in on weight,” White said of Johnson. “He needs to prove to me that he can be a professional, show up on weight and do the things he needs to do. If he does, we can talk.”
When asked about Marquardt, however, White sounded open to the possibility that he could re-sign with the UFC. … White was furious at the time, but several months later he sounds willing to forgive and forget.
“I don’t dislike Nate,” White said. “I like Nate very much. We’ll see what happens.”
Johnson was fired from the UFC after missing weight by 11 pounds at his UFC 142 co-main event bout against Vitor Belfort. Ironically that was Johnson’s first fight at middleweight after struggling to make the 170lb welterweight limit in several previous fights. It was the third time Johnson missed weight for a UFC bout.
Marquardt was fired from the organization right before a scheduled UFC on Versus 4 bout against Rick Story due to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission refusing to license him for the fight. The PSAC’s actions stemmed from Marquardt failing a blood test commissioned by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission who were following up on Marquardt’s previous bout against Dan Miller at UFC 128. Marquardt had been allowed to use Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) before that bout and the commission was following up to monitor his hormone levels.
Ironically Johnson and Marquardt were originally scheduled to meet at UFC on Versus 4 but Johnson had to drop out due to injuries. Marquardt signed with the UK’s Bamma promotion but they were unable to put a fight together for him and he has been released from his contract.
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