Magazine Archive: The Return of Nate The Great (Patreon)

By Nate Marquardt, Issue 6 of Fightful Magazine

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When I was a child, I dreamt about becoming a fighter. I always loved pretending I was a ninja, playing karate, boxing, and wrestling with my friends and family. I started training for MMA at the age of 16. By the time I was 20 years old, I gained my first world title by winning the tournament to crown the first Middleweight King of Pancrase. I won seven title fights in Japan and signed with the UFC in 2005. I fought Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title in 2007 but came up short.

In 2012, I won my fourth world title in Strikeforce by knocking outTyrone Woodley for the Welterweight Championship. Later I returned to the UFC and ended my career in 2017 with a record of 35 wins, 19 losses, and 2 draws. My life in MMA has been a very difficult journey, and I would like to share this story with you to encourage you and amaze you.

In 2013, I lost two fights in a row for the first time in my career immediately after I won the Strikeforce title. I eventually realized I was angry at God. I saw that my career had become my idol. It was the thing I worshipped and was living for. I surrendered my life to Jesus and asked him to change me. I decided to retire from fighting and I was planning what I would do to provide for the family, God gave me a vision of a belt. This was the first time I had seen a vision like this. I believed God was telling me that I would be champion one day. I decided not to retire and continued fighting.

My next fight was scheduled in the UFC against Hector Lombardat 170 pounds (welterweight). I remember my wife told me about a dream she had where I lost the fight, and I became very angry afterwards. I explained to her that it obviously wasn’t a true dream because I was going to become champion. However, I considered what would happen if I was to lose. I shared with her that it doesn’t matter if I win or lose because God had saved me, my marriage, and my family. Sure enough the dream was correct in that I did lose the fight. Even so, I did not become angry. It was the first time in my life that I was not devastated afterward. Sure, I was disappointed, but it was not the end of the world because it was not my identity anymore. It wasn’t my god anymore.

I chose to move up back up to middleweight thinking that the weight cut had affected my ability to take a punch. The UFC scheduled me to fight againstJames Te Huna in the main event in Auckland, New Zealand. This was a big opportunity for me, and it was a huge fight for my career. I won that night by armbar in the first round. It was amazing! I was sure I was back on track to take the belt. That was until I lost the next fight six months later.

From that point on, my UFC career was very rocky. I had some big wins and some big losses. I had many close decisions that didn’t go my way and after three in a row, the UFC released me from my contract. I thought about the vision I had seen and figured that one of a few things happened. First, the vision could have been metaphorical, and the belt was symbolic of spiritual things. I would be a spiritual champion. The other possibilities were that it was a belt I had already won in the past or the vision was not real. It could have been something I made up in my own mind or a natural phenomenon. I chose to retire from MMA and pursue traditional ministry. Since I had started a degree earlier that year at Gateway Seminary to do international missions, I figured this was God’s path for me.

I continued school and about four months later on Easter, I fell asleep in the middle of the day. I had a dream that I was walking with someone and as he pointed up at the stars, he asked, “Do you remember Abraham’s promise?” He was referring to the story from Genesis 12-22 where God promised to give Abraham as many descendants as the stars (Gen. 15:5). Abraham was 75-years-old (and his wife Sarah was 65) when God first told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his descendant (Gen. 12:1-4). Abraham was 100-years-old (and Sarah was 90) when he finally had Isaac, yet the promise was not fulfilled yet. It wouldn’t be until Jesus came and died for the sins of the world! In that way, all nations are blessed through Abraham and his descendants. Therefore, the promise was ultimately fulfilled spiritually through Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16).

In the dream as I looked up, I said that I remembered the promise, and that the promise was ultimately fulfilled in a spiritual sense through Jesus. Then he asked, “What about your promise?” Somehow, I knew he was asking about the vision I had seen when I surrendered my life to Jesus. I said, “I would rather be a spiritual champion than have worldly success.” He responded, “Because you have chosen the spiritual and not worldly success, I’m going to give you both.” Immediately at this point, I became aware that I was dreaming. My mind was fully conscious, though I was still sleeping. I was wondering if God was speaking to me. I asked, “How will I know this is truly you, that I’m not making this up?” He answered, “I will confirm it.” At this, my adrenaline started pumping and I woke up expecting something to happen. I went and told my wife the dream and she said not to worry about it, but that if it was from God, he would reveal it to me. My wife was the only one I shared this with.

Four days later, I was invited to a prayer night. We only knew two of the families there. At various times, three different people came up to me privately to talk. I had not talked to anyone there about the dream. The first guy came up to me and said he believed he had a message for me from God. He said, “God says you’re a warrior and he wants you to keep fighting.” He said that God is my Father and would never leave me nor forsake me. He said that God would train my hands for war and my fingers for battle. At this I asked him if anyone had told him that I was a fighter. He looked perplexed. I asked if he saw my cauliflower ears and thought I was a wrestler or something. He had no clue who I was, and no one had said anything to him. I finished talking with him and went to think about what had just happened. Then my friend came up to me and said he saw a vision and thought it was for me. He saw a clip from the movie “Warrior.” He said it was the end of the final fight where the champ makes his brother tap out. He said, “Maybe you need to submit to God about something.”

After our conversation, I sat down and was wondering if this was the confirmation for the dream. Next another stranger came up to me and said he was praying for me, and God showed him a vision. He said he saw me pushed up against another man in what looked like a wrestling match or something. “Maybe you need to wrestle in prayer about something.” I asked him the same questions as the first guy, but he had no clue who I was or what I did for a living. I was in awe, and it all seemed like the confirmation to me, but several months later, another friend asked me if I would ever fight again. I said that I thought I would. He paused and looked shocked. He said he had a vision of me just then. I was on the microphone after a fight, and I was very cut and bruised with blood on my face. My friend started to tear up and he said, “You were telling everyone about Jesus… and you were wearing a belt.”

Fast forward to May of 2020. I finished my Master of Theological Studies degree, and we sold our house planning to move to Thailand. I reasoned that I would need to change my training and go somewhere full-time to make my comeback. After seven months and many obstacles, we were unable to make it to Thailand. We decided to drive to Florida and try the training there. After a few weeks at Sanford MMA, I decided we would stay and train. It was a long road to get back in fight shape. I had been training, but not full-time. I had not been in fight shape for three years. I trained very hard and faced several injuries over the following months. Every time I would get into shape, I would continue training until I got injured. I wanted to be in the best shape possible to make a comeback.

Then one night, I woke up and felt God’s presence. I was excited and thought maybe God was sending me on a night mission. I felt like the Lord said that sometimes I would get beaten up on these missions. This stunned me and I contemplated the idea. After this I said, “If that’s what it takes, I’m willing. I want to do your will.” He responded, “Then why won’t you go and fight?” I thought about how I wanted to be prepared and be in the best shape, and my thoughts were interrupted with, “and I said I would give you success…” To this, I cried realizing that I hadn’t trusted completely in his promise. The next week, I had a fight scheduled. After nearly four years of retirement, I fought again for Titan FC against Michael Cora. Thankfully, I was able to win by armbar in the first round. Soon afterward, I scheduled another fight with ten weeks between fights.

I trained very hard for this fight, just as I had the previous. I showed up to the fight very prepared in all areas. The first round could not have gone much better. I was able to dominate my opponent on the ground with big elbows cutting his eye and nose. The fight was very bloody. The second round started, and I was winning the standup. A few minutes into the second round, I ate an overhand that knocked me down. I was trying to get up with a single leg takedown, but the fight was stopped as I was not protecting against his punches. I was very disappointed. Honestly, I did not care that I lost, except for the fact that I only continue competing in this sport because I believe it is God’s path for me. If God spoke to me and said I would have both spiritual success and success in this world, then why did I lose my second comeback fight?

I had little time to contemplate this question because I had a good friend in town and soon after left for Dubai to corner a teammate. His fight was like mine. He should have won the fight. He was winning, and suddenly he was caught with something that ended the fight. The only difference was that in his fight, he was the one with cuts and a missing tooth.

After his fight, I realized there are several things that I hate about the sport of MMA. This is a very dark industry and there are very few good aspects. It is easy to see why God has called me to be a messenger of the light of Jesus Christ in MMA. I don’t know why I had to lose my last fight, but I believe God has called me here and will continue giving me success, both spiritually and in MMA.

Nate Marquardt has competed in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) since 1999. He retired from fighting in the UFC (2004-2017) but made his comeback in 2021.

Twitter:@NathanMarquardt