Nate Marquardt today appeared on the ‘MMA Hour’ podcast with Ariel Helwani to break his silence on his failed medical prior to UFC On Versus 4 which resulted in him being withdrawn from the event and being sacking by the UFC.
On the show Marquardt revealed for the first time that in August of last year he went to the doctor after noticing symptoms such as feeling sluggish, having memory loss and increased irritability.
The diagnosis that came back was that he had low levels of testosterone and resulting in him being recommended to take Hormone Replacement Therapy which he then did so.
After Marquardt’s fight with Dan Miller back in March he was asked to come off HRT for eight weeks by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission to establish whether he really did need to be taking the treatment.
Marquardt complied, and at the end of the 8 weeks it was established from blood tests that he did have low testosterone and therefore was allowed to continue his treatment. This verdict came three weeks before his scheduled fight with Rick Story this past weekend.
Consulting with his doctor Marquardt was then put on a more aggressive treatment of HRT, a decision that would prove costly as during standard testing in the past week Marquardt’s testosterone levels were found to be over the limits, thus leading to his medical suspension.
Interestingly, Marquardt has done further testing since he was pulled from the fight card on Saturday, and based on those tests the Pittsburgh Athletic Commission has now indicated that those levels are now within normal levels and therefore his suspension could well be lifted in the coming days.
Marquardt fought back tears as he said that he takes full responsibility for his error in not keeping his HRT levels within acceptable paramaters in the build-up to the fight.
He says that Dana White confronted him prior to the weigh-ins after finding out about his failed medical and asked him, “How could you let this happen?”
While White didn’t tell him that he was sacked on the spot, Marquardt admits that he “half expected” that he would be giving his walking papers. Marquardt and his team didn’t know for sure however until they too saw the video posted on the internet by White just minutes after the weigh-ins confirming that he had been sacked.
Marquardt doesn’t hold a grudge against White however, and says he understands why he did what he did, and again affirms that he takes full responsibility for what happened.
He does admit he hopes he can one day fight for the UFC again.
