Marquardt signs with the U.K.?s Bamma

Nate Marquardt isn't waiting around for the UFC to change its mind. The elite middleweight has decided to fight for one of the biggest international promotions, Bamma in England.

Bamma is highly successful promotion in the U.K. The next scheduled card comes in early September. That includes 185-pound title fight with Frank Trigg challenging Tom Watson. Paul Daley has been a big draw in the past as well for Bamma.

Through BAMMA P.R., Marquardt had this to say:

"Offers came in from several fight promotions, but we felt that BAMMA was definitely the best fit. They put on high-quality shows, stack their cards with top-level fighters, and sign those fighters to multi-fight deals.? They are also the only fight organization in the UK that implements PED testing," Marquardt said. "To be honest, that is one of the main reasons that we chose BAMMA. I want?to prove to my fans and to the world that I'm the real deal and that I belong on top."

Liam Fisher from Bamma jumped at the chance to sign Marquardt.

"As soon as we received word that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt's suspension we jumped at the chance to sign him. He is a top ranked contender and an asset to any promotion. Words cannot express how excited we are that Marquardt is now fighting under the BAMMA banner," said Fisher.

Marquardt is expected to speak at length about the signing tonight on ESPN's MMA Live.

Marquardt and his management team spoke with U.S.-basedBellator, arguably the No. 1 non-Zuffa owned MMA promotion in the country, but nothing officially materialized.

Bellator was hoping to set up a fight between Marquardt and the promotion's unstoppable champion Hector Lombard. Lombard lashed out again at Marquardt on a local Miami-area radio station.

"He's getting offered more money than me, more money than anybody and he doesn't want to take the fight," Lombard told 790 the Ticket in Miami. "They offered him a one-fight deal. They didn't offer him any contract, a one-fight deal. Way more money than he was making in UFC."

It was previously thought that Marquardt may have turned down the deal because he was asked to enter a Bellator middleweight tournament and work his way up the ladder to get Lombard.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Marquardt-signs-with-the-U-K-s-Bamma?urn=mma-wp4948

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