Record: 12 - 4
Height: 6'0" (183cm)
Weight: 185 lbs
Age: 41

Nate Quarry Tweets

Nathan Parker "Rock" Quarry (born March 18, 1972) is a mixed martial arts fighter who is most notable for his appearance in The Ultimate Fighter , a reality show from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and subsequent title fight against Rich Franklin.Nate Quarry grew up as a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which he later characterized as a cult that controls its members 24 hours a day. Quarry grew up in a sheltered lifestyle and did not even participate in organized sports until age 24, when he first became exposed to mixed martial arts. After a period of self-discovery, Quarry rejected his Jehovah's Witness upbringing, which caused him to become alienated from his family and former friends. He began to associate with others outside of the church, and along the way began to train in mixed martial arts fighting. Eventually, Quarry made his way to Team Quest, out of Gresham, Oregon, where he continued to train until mid-2007.

Quarry made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2001, in a match against Drew McFedries, which he won with a TKO in the second round. After compiling a 5-1 record, Quarry was invited by the UFC to participate in The Ultimate Fighter, a reality television show and mixed martial arts competition featuring up-and-coming MMA talent living and traning in seclusion with the UFC. On the show however, Quarry had to drop out of the competition when he suffered an ankle injury during practice, which would have required six weeks to heal. He was asked to stay on as an assistant coach. When he was no longer officially allowed to compete, he allowed Team Quest teammate, Chris Leben who was already eliminated by Josh Koscheck to take his place. During his time on the show, he was seen as the role model for Team Couture and would also stand up for Team Liddell member Sam Hoger when others would make fun of him, but confronted him when he was accused of stealing UFC merchandise from the gym.

Quarry made his UFC debut on The Ultimate Fighter finale card, where he defeated Lodune Sincaid by TKO. He won his first two fights in the UFC, all first round stoppages, and was granted a shot at the middleweight title at UFC 56 on November 19, 2005. The middleweight champion, Rich Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Up until his recent rematch with Pete Sell, Quarry had not fought since his knockout defeat against Franklin, due to numerous injuries suffered prior to his fight with Rich Franklin. After his fight with Franklin, Quarry underwent a successful surgical procedure in June 2006 to repair a chronic back injury due to his many years of hard training. In the news segment of his website, he reports that his back and nose have since healed, and that he is back in training. On July 31, 2007, it was announced that Quarry would be making his return to the UFC on September 19, 2007 at UFC Fight Night 11, where he for the second time won a KO victory over rival Pete Sell.

More recently, at UFC 83, Quarry defeated Kalib Starnes in a decision. The fight was unusual because Starnes backed away from Quarry for almost the entire fight. In the final seconds of the fight, Quarry began showboating in protest to Starnes's refusal to engage. One judge scored the bout 30-24 in Quarry's favor, marking the second-largest margin of victory in UFC history.

On Nov 15, 2008 he lost to Demian Maia at UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar by rear naked choke. Quarry will be facing Jason Macdonald at UFC 97 Redemption.