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Nate Marquardt cut from UFC after failed medicals leading up to Sunday bout

Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry now headlies UFC on Versus 4

ufc109weighin

Las Vegas Sun

Nate Marquardt poses during an official weigh-in for UFC 109 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Friday, February 5, 2010. STEVE MARCUS / LAS VEGAS SUN

An important piece was missing was from the UFC on Versus 4 weigh-ins this afternoon in Pittsburgh — one of the two announced headliners.

Nate Marquardt, who was scheduled to face Rick Story in Sunday’s welterweight main event, failed his medical clearing, which forced to him to pull out a day before the fight.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the news through his twitter account and also revealed that Marquardt will not return to the promotion.

“Not only is he out of this fight, out of the main event on Versus, he will no longer be with the UFC,” White said in an 11-second video.

Story (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will now face Charlie Brenneman (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who was left without an opponent earlier this week when T.J. Grant withdrew with an injury. The UFC demoted Story vs. Brenneman to the co-main event, with a heavyweight bout pitting Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry now moving into the top slot.

In Brenneman, Story gets a seemingly easier task — oddsmakers have made him as high as a 5-to-1 favorite — but a win wouldn’t push him further up the divisional rankings like a victory over Marquardt would have.

Marquardt was attempting to make his debut at the 170-pound class after spending his entire six-year span in the UFC at middleweight. The highlight of Marquardt’s career came when he won his first four fights in the octagon to get a title shot against Anderson Silva at UFC 73, which he lost via first round TKO.

Neither the reason for Marquardt’s failed medicals nor why White decided to cut him from the roster was immediately available.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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