Marquardt medicals and firing still shrouded in mystery

Dana White appeared just minutes ago on Versus and we still have few answers about why Nate Marquardt was dumped from the main event at UFC on Versus 4 and fired by the promotion. The UFC president pointed to confidentiality issues and laid the suspension at the feet of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.

The PSAC chief Greg Sirb said a problem was discovered six weeks ago and that Marquardt had a chance to rectify it, but did not.

"We gave him every opportunity," Sirb said. "The last report we got was 4 o'clock yesterday. We had given him as much leeway as we could, but obviously, when you've got a live event, you've got to make a call at that time," Sirb told MMAWeekly. "(It's) pretty straightforward stuff. You've got to meet these requirements, and there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. Unfortunately, he did not. I felt for the kid. I really did. He knew about it, and I think he was trying."

Was trying what?

"He knew the situation," Sirb said. "There was no surprise. Everybody knew. I think everybody assumed he was going to be able to qualify."

If "everybody knew" it sure seemed like the UFC was caught off guard. Why would you allow a fighter to risk a main event right up to a day before the fight? That might explain why Marquardt failing the medicals was greeted with such severe consequences.

"We can't say anything," Sirba said. "The HIPAA laws are really strict."

During his brief appearance on a Versus prefight show, White said something similar. It definitely sounds like something serious. White was still steaming.

"The thing that's going on with Nate Marquardt, Pennsylvania laws are unfortunate in that the commission can't come out and announce medical records or medical situations with fighters," White said. "But I think it's pretty clear to the fans and everybody else that I'm pretty disgusted with Nate Marquardt. He's been cut from the UFC. He won't fight in the UFC ever again.� Bottom line is, what Nate Marquardt did is bad enough to be cut from the UFC. ... I'm disgusted with him. He has no business fighting in the UFC."

Marquardt is currently under suspension from the state of Pennsylvania, but it does sound like something he can remedy.

"He needs to show us a new report," Sirb said. "When that report comes in and he meets our requirements, which could even be tomorrow, we'll take him off. It could be two months, but it's an indefinite suspension until he submits that report we're looking for."

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Video analysis: Iole talks about Marquardt?s future

Nate Marquardt's situation looks pretty bleak right now. There's reportedly a press conference tomorrow so Marquardt can tell his side of the story. Because of HIPAA laws, both UFC and Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission have been tight-lipped on what the exact reason that prevented Marquardt from fighting at UFC on Versus 4.

Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole filled us in on what he's heard about Marquardt and his future.

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Guillard interview: Confident in his hands, ?Young Assassin? wants a KO and bonus

Gone is the Melvin Guillard who was questioning himself and getting in trouble away from the Octagon. The new "Young Assassin" is super confident, completely focused on the fight game, a getting a title shot and making lots of money.

Guillard has ripped off four straight wins and is now staring at Shane Roller on Saturday night. The 28-year-old Louisiana-native doesn't give Roller much of a chance.

"I kind of feel sorry for Shane Roller in a way," Guillard told RawVegas.tv (3:50 mark). "I never step in the ring saying I want to kill this guy, but I do want to hurt someone before they hurt me. I want to walk out of this feet with no scratches."

Roller, a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State has improved by leaps and bounds on the feet. He even scored a big knockout his last time out against Thiago Tavares.

"With that being said, I'm the wrong kind of guy to learn on," Guillard said. "It's gonna make for a short night hopefully for him. He's definitely gonna wake up with a splitting headache if he tries that wrestling crap with me."

In his last fight against Evan Dunham, Guillard won Knockout of the Night honors and took home an extra $30,000. Guillard said the money went toward buying his wife a 2008 Mustang Cobra. Now he's fighting for bonuses and a nice big house in Norman, Okla.

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White talks TV negotiations, Spike and cursing on Versus

Dana White has scratched and clawed for the last 10 years on behalf of his UFC, so he's ready to throwdown if need be during the negotiations for the promotion's next TV deal. White has definitely noticed Spike poking the UFC a little bit with some recent programming.

"Negotiating is never fun. And even though you're negotiating in good faith, you know, you're still giving some kicks to the balls here and there," White joked (1:40 mark).

During UFC on Versus 4 last Sunday, Spike ran a Nate Marquardt fight marathon against the live fight card. That's a little extra salt in the wound since Marquardt was dumped from the main event and fired the day before.

"I see Spike's side. That's what I would do too," White said candidly. "They might have [picked a fight with me]. We'll see. I would do the same thing they just did. I owe you one Spike."

The UFC and Spike have grown together over the last six years, but they may splitting soon. Rumors emerged last month in the Wall Street Journal that UFC officials were sitting down with folks from Comcast/NBC and that Spike could be looking at Bellator as backup plan for 2012.

"What everybody's saying, none of that stuff is true. People are out there speculating on what we're doing. We have no deal with anybody. We're out there talking with everybody. I don't buy into that stuff. When deals are done, everybody does what they're going to do and we'll see what happens." White said. He also pointed that the door isn't closed yet with Spike.

One other bit of television "news" discussed by White was the foul-mouthed Matt Mitrione. Fresh of his knockout win over Christian Morecraft, the emotional "Meathead" dropped a four-letter expletive on live television.

White said no action has been taken yet, but cussing on camera is a big no-no.

"He knew because I give these guys the riot act before, 'do not swear on free TV,' White said. The UFC president admits he's a virtuoso with four letter words, but there's a time and place. "I am good at doing it, but on live TV though. You gotta think and think before you speak. Calm down and think before you speak. But it's bad. It's real bad when you swear on live TV. they can't bleep it fast enough. First time it's ever happened."

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Bellator 46: Mann with awesome KO, Malegarie subs Devree

After a very good Season 4 featherweight tourney, won by Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, Bellator quickly threw together another 145-pound tournament for the summer and it looks to be loaded. Ronnie Mann and Nazareno Malegarie opened up this tourney with dynamic victories at Bellator 46 in Hollywood, Fla.

Mann, a nasty striker, crushed Adam Schindler with a left and knocked him out on the ground at 4:14 of the first while Malegarie (pictured) rolled through a variety of submission attempts and finally made good on a guillotine choke at 1:25 of the third.

Both fighters advance to the semifinals. As long as they came out of their fights unscathed they'll be fighting on July 22 at Bellator 47 in Canada.

Mann's a pretty accomplished fighter on the international scene and it showed against the American Schindler. Born in Thailand, Mann, 24, grew up in England. Before this dominant win, he'd made a name for himself in both Japan's Sengoku and several British promotions.

Schindler, a former high school wrestling star and U.S. Air Force vet, chose to stand and bang with Mann. It turned out to be an awful gameplan.

Just 20 seconds into the fight, Schindler actually rocked Mann with a nice combination. Mann (20-2-1) has too much experience to freak out and came back seconds later with a three-punch combo that stopped Schindler in his place. It got worse from there.

Schindler would close space and throw hard shots, but nothing really landed. Meanwhile, Mann, still in pocket, blasted away with straight punches.

With 55 seconds left in the first round, Schindler was dropped by a beautiful left hook. He fell to his back and got crushed by a right hand as Mann pounced. "The Ninja Kid" then got off eight vicious hammer fists before referee Jorge Alonso stepped in. Schindler was out cold.

"I knew he was going to come in wild so I wanted come straight down the middle. So yeah it worked," Mann told MTV2's Jimmy Smith. "All I heard was my cornerman [Shawn Tompkins saying], 'use that left hook!' So I threw it and caught him."

Malegarie was just as dominant, but used his jiu-jitsu game and improved wrestling to wear down Jacob Devree. The Argentinian training out of Brazil got the fight to the floor whenever he wanted.

He worked for a guillotine submission for over a minute early in the first round. In the second, Devree fought off another early guillotine attempt and then survived the mount position from Malegarie. He was still alive entering the third, but all that submission defense wore him out. Just 25 seconds into the final round, Malegarie scored an easy takedown. Then Devree finally got sloppy with his defense. He pushed Malegarie off to create some space, but left his head exposed. That's death against a Brazliian jiu-jitsu black belt. Malegarie landed another guillotine choke and flipped so he was on top. Devree tapped inside of five seconds. Malegarie, 25, moved to 20-1.

"This is the real Nazareno Malegarie that you've seen tonight," the winner told Smith.

He's probably right. Malegarie lost to Daniel Straus in the first round of the Bellator Season 4 tournament. Straus, a huge featherweight, went on to the final and lost going the distance with very highly-touted Pitbull.

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UFC?s behind-the-scenes guru gets chance meeting with Obama

PITTSBURGH -- Burt Watson (pictured in the background), the man who you've seen directing traffic at weigh-ins, works tirelessly to keep things running well at UFC events, and he was rewarded with a chance meeting in Pittsburgh. The UFC's main behind-the-scenes man met President Obama while both were at the fighters' hotel, and told his tale to Cagewriter.

The Hyatt Regency in Pittsburgh hosted both the fighters and the president, who was in town to make a speech at Carnegie-Mellon University. Because of Obama's presence, security was tight around the hotel. Watson's room was near the fitness center, so his room had to be checked by Secret Service before the president could go in and do his daily workout. Watson's room was swept by bomb-sniffing dogs and Secret Service agents.

After the sweep, Watson had to turn on the sauna to ready it for fighters. When he entered the fitness center, he saw the president, and asked if he could go in.

"I opened the door, and there was President Obama, pedaling on a bike and reading the newspaper," Watson said. "I started shaking a little bit. There was no one else in the room."

Because of his job with the UFC, Watson has met a who's who of celebrities, but was still blown away by getting to meet Obama.

"I don't get starstruck, because I work with celebrities all the time. It's not my job to get starstruck, but I was dumbfounded. I walked towards him, reached out my hand and said, 'What's up?' He said, 'How are you?' I said, 'Right now? I'm honored.' And he said, 'Nah, I'm honored.' And as I walked out, I thought, 'Oh [expetive]! Did I just walk out of the room with the president of the United States? Me and him!"

He said that the enormity of the situation didn't really hit him until later.

"Not until I walked out of there did it hit me that I was literally one-on-one with the most powerful man in the world. History has a way of making you a part of it without even asking. Never in my wildest, wildest dreams did I imagine that I would meet the President of the United States."

Watson's calm, upbeat demeanor serves him well in his job as the behind-the-scenes man for the UFC. Working for the promotion since UFC 31, he has seen nearly everything the fight world can muster and has taken it in stride. This was different.

"For the first time, I was in awe."

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