Nate Marquardt Set to Make Welterweight Debut at BAMMA 9

Former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt finally has a fight.

After being kicked out of the UFC for failing his medical tests, Marquardt had been rumored to face off against Paul Daley. That bout never materialized and now Marquardt will get former UFC fighter, Yoshiyuki Yoshida at BAMMA 9 in February of 2012.

Yoshida is currently riding a two-fight win streak and coming off a unanimous decision over ex-UFC competitor, Phil Baroni.

BAMMA CEO responded to fans' criticisms about waiting for Marquardt to debut.

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"Although we had planned for Nate's first fight to be in December, we believe it is worth waiting a further eight weeks for such a great matchup."

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Marquardt will no doubt be a heavy favorite in the Yoshida fight as Yoshida was pretty much destroyed in his brief UFC appearances.

However, he does have something to tip his hat to for his UFC run; he's part of the two most devastating knockouts in UFC history.

Marquardt, no doubt, will be the larger of the two men and should be able to use his size advantage to handle Yoshida on the feet or on the ground.

Many fans were expecting, and still want a Daley vs. Marquardt match, but now we will have to wait an extra two months for Marquardt to even make his promotional debut.

The Daley fight can still happen, but it looks far from a sure thing as Daley continues to struggle with making 170 lbs.