Are You There God? It’s Me, Marquardt!

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight No. 1 contender, Nate Marquardt, retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) back in Dec. 2017 because God was calling him in a different direction.

His words, not mine.

I guess God can’t make up his mind or found a new reason for Marquardt to be involved in cage fighting, as the 40 year-old “Great” recently announced his MMA comeback. As of this writing, a date and promotion for said comeback have yet to be revealed.

“Yeah, that’s true, I’m going to be making a comeback,” Marquardt told MMA Junkie. “I’ve known it for a while now, but I haven’t made it public. Well it’s kind of a crazy story, man, but I had a dream. God spoke to me, and he confirmed it later in the week by two people I’ve never met before and one friend, as well, that basically I’d be fighting again.”

In addition to his time spent inside the Octagon, Marquardt (35-19-2) held gold for the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion and was also the first middleweight King of Pancrase. It’s also worth noting he dropped his final three UFC fights by way of decision.

No matter.

Plenty of promotions are in the market for recognizable names, including Bellator MMA and ONE Championship. Marquardt is expected to return as a welterweight, though nothing has been finalized at this time.