Nate “The Great” Marquardt will return to the UFC and face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 158 on March 16 at Montreal’s Bell Centre, UFC officials confirmed on Tuesday morning.
Marquardt steps in for Johny Hendricks who was shifted from fighting Ellenberger to battling Carlos Condit due to an injury to Rory MacDonald, Condit’s original opponent on the card.
Marquardt (32-11-2) returns to the organization following a brief stint in Strikeforce where he was once the welterweight champion. Most recently, Marquardt fought Tarec Saffiedine on the final Strikeforce card, losing his title in a unanimous decision.
Ellenberger (28-6) was last seen earning a unanimous decision over Jay Hieron at UFC on FX 5 last October. The win over Hieron was the seventh in Ellenberger’s last eight outings.
UFC 158 is headlined by welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defending his title against Nick Diaz.
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