Main event:

170 lbs.: Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story

Main card (Televised):

265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
170 lbs.: Matt Brown vs. John Howard
265 lbs.: Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft

Preliminary card (May not be broadcast):

185 lbs.: Rich Attonito vs. Daniel Roberts
145 lbs.: Manny Gamburyan vs. Tyson Griffin
155 lbs.: Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
145 lbs.: Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
155 lbs.: Edward Faaloloto vs. Michael Johnson
170 lbs.: T.J. Grant vs. Charlie Brenneman
145 lbs.: Matt Grice vs. Ricardo Lamas
155 lbs.: Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira

Nogen der tør gætte på udfaldet af de 4 main card kampe?

A planned welterweight bout between T.J. Grant and Charlie Brenneman has been scratched from Sunday’s UFC Live 4 fight card.

The UFC Wednesday announced via Twitter that Grant has fallen ill and will be unable to compete. With only four days until fight time, the promotion was forced to cancel the bout. UFC Live 4 will go forward as planned with 11 bouts.

Headlined by a welterweight clash between Nate Marquardt and Rick Story, the event marks the UFC’s inaugural trip to Pittsburgh. Emanating from Consol Energy Center, Sunday’s main card will air live on cable network Versus, while the preliminaries will stream live via Facebook.

In addition to the headlining attraction, UFC Live 4 will also feature a pair of heavyweight tilts: kickboxers Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo are scheduled to collide, as are Christian Morecraft and Matt Mitrione. A welterweight contest pitting AMC Pankration representative Matt Brown against hard-hitting John Howard will round out the main draw.

The event’s prelims will feature the reemergence of Tyson Griffin at featherweight, as the Xtreme Couture fighter locks horns with former WEC title challenger Manny Gamburyan. Another UFC lightweight staple will drop to 145 pounds at the event, as “Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 winner Joe Stevenson squares off with jiu-jitsu ace Javier Vazquez.

The following is from UFC.com:

"Due to late medical licensing issues, Nate Marquardt has been pulled from Sunday's UFC Live main event in Pittsburgh. Stepping in to face Rick Story on the main card will be Pennsylvania's own Charlie Brenneman, and the Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry bout has been elevated to the main event slot. UFC Live airs on Versus at 9pm ET / 6pm PT."

Hold da kæft der har været mange ændringer til det her show

Jeg synes at jeg kunne læse på kommentarerne til UFCs facebook update, at Nate var blevet releaed fra UFC i samme omgang. Det lugter lidt af roids.

JSB skrev:


Kan man lugte roids???

Der er godt nok meget mystik om hvad der nøjagtig er sket. Ifølge Dana White har han "failed his medicals" - det kan jo betyde så meget forskelligt.

Men eftersom han er blevet fyret, vil jeg tro at det betyder at han har toget noget ulovligt.

På et andet forum var der nogle der gættede på at han muligvis også kunne have hep. c. - Men med fyringen i baghovedet ville det så ikke kun give mening hvis han havde holdt sin kæft om det? Altså selvfølgelig kan han så ikke kæmpe i UFC længere, men ville man ikke have formuleret det anderledes hvis det var tilfældet? Han kommer jo i et lidt dårligt lys her

JSB skrev:

'
Taking full responsibility for the problems that led to his firing over the weekend, Nate Marquardt explained that a high testosterone level caused by hormone replacement therapy (HRT) led to the medical suspension that knocked him from the main event of the recent UFC on Versus 4.

Making his first public statements since the incident, Marquardt appeared with manager Lex McMahon on The MMA Hour for a one-hour interview to address the cause of his termination, which had been until now a mystery.

He explained that in August 2010, issues with sluggishness, memory loss and irritability led him to see his primary care physician, who discovered he suffered from low testosterone levels and recommended HRT. Marquardt applied for and received an exemption from the New Jersey state athletic commission for his March 2011 fight over Dan Miller.

The approval though, came with a caveat. After the fight, Marquardt needed to stop the treatment for eight weeks so a New Jersey commission-approved endocrinologist could re-check his levels and make sure his natural levels were indeed low, making the therapy a medical necessity.

In the meantime, though, Marquardt accepted the fight with Story, and attempted to gain HRT clearance in Pennsylvania, the host state of the scheduled fight.

Because of the eight-week treatment absence, Marquardt's levels fell low, and with three weeks remaining to his fight, Marquardt's doctor gave him a testosterone shot to combat the problem. Marquardt's levels were regularly monitored and as he approached fight week, he knew they were high, but expected them to drop to satisfactory levels by weigh-in day.

"The week of the fight I requested several tests," Marquardt said. "Each test showed that the levels were going down. I took a test on weigh-in day, and it was still above the range the athletic commission was going to let me fight."

"But [it was] in close proximity, and it had been trending down significantly throughout the week," McMahon added.

At that point, Marquardt was informed he was not going to be allowed to fight and put on suspension.

"There are things I messed up," he said. "I have to take responsibility."

But, however, one thing the duo stressed is that Marquardt never made an effort to hide anything, and that he had been in constant contact with Pennsylvania's commission as well as the UFC, which was aware of the issue. In fact, not only had he gone through New Jersey, but also fights in Texas and Germany, in which he disclosed the situation to the governing bodies.

"Nate was hiding nothing," McMahon said. "He made every effort to comply. When he found out his results were high, he ran out of time."

Looking back, Marquardt, who cried at two different points of the interview, regrets several actions that may or may not have contributed to the problem. One thing he pointed out was that several years ago, he regularly took androstenediol, a popular supplement that was sold over-the-counter at nutrition shops until being reclassified as a steroid in 2005 and banned. Marquardt said he took the supplement for several years and wonders if it could have compromised his system and led to low testosterone production.

He also said he should have better monitored his ranges through blood tests soon after taking his first testosterone shot.

In addition, he added that when he went through the New Jersey commission protocol for an exemption, they raised some red flags about his doctor, including that he had prescribed an "off-label" prescription for Marquardt, basically meaning he had furnished Marquardt with a drug that was designed for a different use.

"From what I understood, it was common for doctors to use it for that reason," Marquardt said.

In retrospect, his team admits that should have been something that alerted their radar.

"The NJ commission sent a very clear statement that the doctor he was using had been incomplete, was using protocols that were not approved by the USADA," McMahon said. "At that point in time, that should have been a significant indicator to go see a specialist, to go see someone whose core competency was this. So I think that's another area where Nate and our team have to take responsibility. At the end of the day, you're dealing with a high-level professional athlete, one of the best fighters in the world. How could you potentially jeopardize that situation? Go to the best doctor you could get your hands on."

McMahon and Marquardt said he will no longer be using his original doctor and have begun the process of finding a highly qualified specialist.

But as of now, his MMA career remains in limbo. Marquardt said that he took a test on Sunday morning that had him well within the standard to fight. He hopes to be taken off suspension as early as Wednesday, when the Pennsylvania commission members are scheduled to meet and review the most recent set of tests.

But what is next for him remains for now, anyone's guess. McMahon said he's already received contract and fight offers for Marquardt, and that when he's ready to move on, it won't take long to find him a deal.

Curiously, after a 14-fight tenure with the UFC, Marquardt and his team found out he had been fired like everyone else, through Dana White's online video just after weigh-ins. The two only had a short conversation after he was suspended by the commission, with White asking him "How you can you let this happen?" Because of White's anger, Marquardt said he was not overly shocked that he was cut, and that it was something he "half-expected." He added that he hopes to get another chance to fight in the UFC one day, but that it's something out of his control.

"I just want to get past this situation right now, get off suspension, let the dust settle and go from there," he said, adding that when he does return, it will be as a welterweight.

If there is one silver lining to this all, Marquardt says that the HRT use might have saved his marriage. The treatment, he said, took away the moodiness and irritability that made him difficult to live with.

It's a choice he had reinforced shortly after he lost out on his big fight, and got fired from his big job. When speculation abounded and rumors and disgust were hurled his way, Team Marquardt closed its ranks.

"Of course it's a nightmare and very stressful and unimaginable in certain instances, but at the same time, I lean on my faith in God," said Marquardt, who apologized to the UFC as well as his sponsors, friends and family. "My wife has been so supportive. I got back to the hotel after weigh-ins. My family was there, and i realized I'm still such a blessed man. My daughter's there, and my wife. I still feel very blessed."

www.mmafighting.com/2011/06/28/nate-marq...spension-ufc-firing/

En artikel som kigger på Chael og Nate: www.mmamania.com/2011/6/29/2249566/nate-...placement-therapy-in

Jeg skammer mig og beder om forladelse. jeg har først nu set showet.

Gif med showets absolutte højdepunkt:

fååk det ser fedt uw!