MMABay spoke with BAMMA’s Vice President of Business Development, Liam Fisher just hours after the promotion announced the signing of world-ranked middleweight Nate Marquardt, confirming some exclusive details of their biggest acquisition to date. Fisher spoke candidly on the logistics of the deal and when and where we can expect to see ‘The Great’ in action.
MMABay was able to confirm on Friday that the former ‘King of Pancrase’ would indeed make his welterweight (170 pound) debut with the rising British promotion, despite BAMMA wealth of middleweight talent. Liam Fisher told us why.
“He’s fighting at welterweight” Fisher revealed. “He’s made the decision to stick at welterweight because he trains with Tom (Watson). He’s not looking to…well, he wouldn’t fight Tom basically and Tom wouldn’t fight him, so it kinda becomes redundant in the middleweight title race. So we’ve put him in at 170.”
The big question now is that of timing; when will the former UFC title challenger cross the pond for his UK debut? According to Fisher, Marquardt is ready to go for the 10th of September, but finding an opponent could be tricky.
“We’ve still got a couple of conversations to have over the next 48-72 hours” said Fisher. “There’s always a possibility it (BAMMA 7) could happen, I’m not gonna deny that. But we also have to think about…you see the thing is with Nate, he’s ready to fight! This is the thing with Nate, he was ready to fight on June 25th. What we do have is that we…there’s a couple of opponent that we really wanna put in front of Nate. I can’t really say who they are at the moment but to give those guys seven weeks notice on a fighter of Nate’s calibre…I’m not entirely sure that’s the fairest thing to do! So it might be something that we do push back. We do have a date planned for December, we’ve got a date planned for February as well, so there’s plenty of opportunities for Nate to come in and fight a couple of times in the next six months.”
Paul Daley (27-10-2) has already thrown his proverbial hat into the ring for a showdown with Marquardt, but the Nottingham-based slugger must first contend with Tyron Woodley in Strikeforce on July 30th. The Brit has had a number of quick turn-arounds this year and will need to consider his options before jumping straight back in against a fighter of Nate’s calibre. Another name on the lips and Twitters of MMA fans is Siyar ‘The Killer’ Bahadurzada (20-4-1), the former Shooto light heavyweight and middleweight champion who recently dropped to 170 to win an 8-man European grand prix. Again, the short notice nature of the bout could be an issue.
The situation will no doubt be frustrating for Marquardt, who has been ready to fight since his cancelled June date with Rick Story. We asked Fisher if the terms of Marquardt’s deal tie him exclusively to BAMMA, or would allow him to compete elsewhere in the interim.
“At the moment no” Fisher explained. “He’s basically…he’s exclusive to us so he will be making his debut, y’know, his welterweight debut I guess, with us. He’s not gonna be fighting until he gets placed with us so whether he fights in September or whether he fights in December, he first fight (after his release) from the UFC will be for BAMMA. Now, we’ve spoke about Nate potentially…there’s a couple of superfights that have come in, offers that are good fights for Nate and to be fair, good marketing for us. So there might be a possibility where we do, not so much a straight co-promotion, but almost lease Nate out, a little bit like what M-1 does with Fedor. Because what we don’t wanna do is that we don’t wanna take any opportunities away from Nate.”
The possibility of sending Marquardt out ‘on loan’ is an intriguing one indeed, and could benefit both parties immensely. For Nate, it will allow him to remain active while potentially enjoying some big paydays against top competition. For their part, BAMMA will enjoy the increased exposure afforded to them as a third party. Stay tuned to MMABay for more news on Marquardt’s opponent as we get it.
By Brad Wharton.
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