Nate Marquardt

Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and a three-time Pancrase Middleweight Champion.

Marquardt was born in Lander, Wyoming to a father of German origin, and a mother of Welsh origin.

He was raised along with his four other siblings in Denver, Colorado.

Marquardt's late father was a Lutheran pastor, worked in construction, and was also a Marine veteran who fought in the Vietnam War.

Marquardt's mother was a nurse and a manager at an attorney's office.

Because of his father's work he and his family moved around frequently to places including Chicago, Illinois, and Indiana.

Marquardt's parents divorced when he was eight years old, and the young Marquardt moved to Colorado.

When he was 15 years old, he began studying the disciplines of Wing Chun Kung Fu, Japanese Jujutsu, Freestyle Wrestling, and Kenpo Karate.

Present Marquardt's fighting style derived from his fights in Pancrase under the leadership of Sheldon Marr from Colorado.

Marquardt began his professional mixed martial arts career in 1999, and amassing victories in various promotions before entering the Bas Rutten Invitational 4 tournament, which was organized in such a manner that the tournament winner was to be offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Despite winning the tournament, Marquardt was offered no such contract.

Instead, he signed with Japan's Pancrase organization, which had fostered such fighters as Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten.

In his first Pancrase fight, Marquardt lost via submission to Genki Sudo.

Invited back to Pancrase for a middleweight elimination tournament, Marquardt defeated Daiju Takase, Kiuma Kunioku, and Shonie Carter to become the first middleweight King of Pancrase.

Sheldon Marr is the co-founder of the World Combat JuJitsu Association and he was a Junior National Judo Champion, and a California State Wrestling Champion and has been recognized as the "Instructor of the Year" by Jujitsu America, the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Famer, the World Martial Arts Hall of Famer, and the International Black Belt Hall of Fame; and was a Coach for the 2000 U.S. World Pankration Team, and the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 U.S. World Grappling Teams.

Marquardt also trained with Shane Pitts in Colorado before he went to Jackson's MMA.

Shane Pitts trained Marquardt in Japanese jujutsu for three years and gave him a black belt.

Pitts is the founder of Law Enforcement Ground Tactics System, holder of five black belts in martial arts, a former World Masters Judo Champion, World Combat Jujitsu Association National Champion and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan American Masters Division Champion.

Marquardt also trained with Mike van Arsdale and also trained Pancrase with Sanae Kikuta in the GRABAKA Dojo in Tokyo, Japan.

Marquardt was active in other sports as well, including basketball and soccer, at Wheat Ridge High School and also began taking Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lessons when he was 18 years old under the instruction of Ricardo Murgel.

Marquardt defended this title twice before being defeated by Kunioku in December 2001.

A final encounter between the two fighters in December 2002 saw Marquardt defeat Kunioku once again to recapture the King of Pancrase championship, which he held for nearly a year.

On November 30, 2003, Marquardt was involved in a brief altercation with Ricardo Almeida in a Pancrase title fight.

Marquardt tapped out to a guillotine choke, however, the referee was unable to immediately separate the fighters, and Almeida continued to apply the choke, posing for ringside cameras.

After he was freed, Marquardt threw a strike at Almeida's face, prompting both corners to storm into the ring, including Renzo Gracie.

Renzo was cornering Almeida, and once in the ring he kicked Marquardt in the face.

The confrontation eventually came to an end, and Marquardt approached Almeida after the bout to congratulate him.

After Almeida vacated his title in July 2004, Marquardt proceeded to regain the championship in a victory over Kazuo Misaki at Pancrase: Brave 10.

On May 1, 2005, Marquardt defeated Izuru Takeuchi, winning the Pancrase Middleweight Championship for the seventh time, becoming the only fighter to ever accomplish such a feat.

Marquardt made his UFC debut on August 6, 2005, live on Spike TV, headlining the inaugural UFC Ultimate Fight Night card in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although Marquardt earned a unanimous decision victory over UFC veteran Ivan Salaverry, a post-fight drug test revealed high levels of nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, in Marquardt's system which led to the Nevada State Athletic Commission filing for his suspension.

Marquardt maintains that he only used over-the-counter supplements in preparation for the fight.

Marquardt was initially suspended for six months and assessed no fine.

Marquardt's suspension was reduced to five months and he was reinstated in January 2006.

With the drug testing controversy resolved, Marquardt was set to make his return at UFC 58, against veteran Joe Doerksen.

The fight proved to be a successful endeavor for Marquardt, as he won a unanimous decision.

In the post-fight interview, Marquardt stated his goals of capturing the UFC Middleweight Championship and his intention to fight then-champion Rich Franklin.

Marquardt then fought Crafton Wallace, a replacement for Marquardt's original opponent, Thales Leites, on the undercard of Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter on October 10, 2006.

Marquardt won by rear-naked choke in the second round.