Tom Watson defends Nate Marquardt against the “ignorant statement’s” of Dan Hardy

BAMMA middleweight champion, Tom Watson has leapt to the defence of his infrequent training partner, Nate Marquardt this week following comments made by another of the UK’s mixed martial arts stable, Dan Hardy, comments the man dubbed “Kong” calls “ignorant”.
Speaking to Fighters Only Magazine, Watson said:

“Referring to Nate’s past record with PEDs is futile since Nate has served his suspensions so that should be left in the past. And by Dan claiming that he doesn’t understand why 30 year-old men need TRT, well that’s an ignorant statement on behalf of Dan.”

“Seemingly robust young athletes have suffered grave medical issues which nobody could anticipate so we shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover without knowing the hard facts. It’s a little bit silly for Dan to be involving himself in the debate, but then again I suppose he needs the publicity after his recent skid.

“I’ve trained with Nate sporadically over the last few years, and he’s a good friend. I don’t like to offer an opinion, since the UFC, Nate and his medical advisors are the only parties privy to the specifics. What I can confirm, echoing the sentiments of many personalities within the MMA world, is that Nate is a great guy, and an honest man.

“It’s not as if he fought and was subsequently caught, but rather Nate was open about his TRT, and there were legitimate reasons for the treatment, so it’s a difficult situation.”

Watson is the current BAMMA middleweight champion, a promotion Marquardt recently joined as a 170 pound competitor. With Hardy’s poor run of results inside the octagon it’s not inconceivable that he could find himself also fighting for the UK promotion down the road, setting up a legitimate grudge match in the UK.