(Photo via facebook.com/sarabeverley. Full gallery is after the jump.)

Adding to their long tradition of stunning British ring girls, BAMMA has just brought on Manchester-based model Sara Beverley (a.k.a. Sara Beverley Jones), who will make her promotional debut at BAMMA 12: Wallhead vs. Veach, March 9th at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena. Sara began working as a professional model at the age of 16, before branching out to television appearances, promotional work, and pageant competitions; she competed in the Miss England finals in both 2006 and 2009.

Get to know Sara better on Twitter and Facebook, and check out some more great Sara Beverley photos in our gallery below. And be sure to watch BAMMA 12 on AXS-TV (US), The Fight Network (Canada), Channel 5 (UK), and TV Esporte Interativo (Brazil).

(Pictured above: The REAL reason Nate Marquardt got fired.) 

When taking a look at Nate Marquardt‘s Sherdog profile, we were kind of shocked to find that it has only been a little over a year since he last fought. Perhaps it was a result of his repeated delays when signed under the BAMMA banner some 6 months ago, but it feels like it has been a long time since we’ve seen the one-time UFC middleweight title contender in action. Like Gina Carano long.

And go figure, it all began with TRT. Because it always begins with TRT. After going 2-2 in his last four UFC fights, including a most recent UD win over Dan Miller at UFC 128, Marquardt was expected to make his welterweight debut against Rick Story at the main event of UFC Live 4. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when he was pulled from the card at the last minute for elevated testosterone levels. He was subsequently ousted by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman, who went on to score the upset over Story and completely derail his hype train.

News broke in February that Marquardt had signed with Strikeforce and was expected to face Tyron Woodley. No date was set for his ever-elusive welterweight debut, likely due to the fact that the Strikeforce website developers hadn’t yet learned how to spell Marquardt and couldn’t afford to scan the Word document twice.

Well, ladies and gents, a date has finally been set for the return of “The Great.”

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

We gave you a taste of BAMMA ring girl Georgia Graham last May, and now we’re ready to show you even more. The 22-year-old model from Northumberland sent us some exclusive photos just for the Potato Nation, which you can see in the gallery below, along with a bunch of other great shots that we culled from Georgia’s official website, Facebook page, and other parts of the Internet. Enjoy, and drop Georgia a line on Twitter @LittleGeorgieG!

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

Hayley Sams is a 25-year-old glamour model and ring girl from Birmingham, England, who has held round cards for BAMMA and Cage Warriors. Her modeling credits include appearances in Front magazine, Zoo, Daily Star, and Loaded. Show her some love on Twitter @miss_sams, and check out more of our favorite Hayley Sams photos below…

“Cut to 170? In how long? Like we don’t already know how this will end.”

When former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt initially signed with BAMMA, most of us wondered who, aside from Paul Daley, Marquardt could fight in the organization. Nate Marquardt is currently set to make his BAMMA debut at BAMMA 8 on December 10 in Nottingham, England. While Nate has been busy vying for a fight with Paul Daley, it is starting to look like this fight may not happen. At least not any time this year.

Earlier this week, Paul Daley took to his website, stating, “I’m sorry to announce that I will not be fighting on the BAMMA 8 card in Nottingham on 10th December. Details as to why I will not be appearing on this card will remain undisclosed. I was most definitely looking forward to competing in front of my home town crowd, and was positive the event would have gone down in, not only Nottingham’s prestigious fighting history, but in UK MMA history as well… The rumours of a possible matchup between myself and Nate are now extremely unlikely to happen.”

“Missed it by this much.”

Put on your surprised face, kids:  Paul Daley stepped on the scales just minutes ago for his welterweight contest this weekend at BAMMA 7, and was recorded six pounds over the 170 pound limit.  He has been given two hours to sweat out the remaining pounds.  His opponent, Jordan Radev, came in at 170 on the first try.

At this point, Paul Daley making weight the first try would be more of a story, as this now makes the sixth time (by our count) that Semtex has tipped the scales in his own favor.

(Semtex is doin’ work to get back in contention.)

Paul Daley will have a busy next two months with back to back fights under two different banners in two different continents.

The 27-11-2 British knockout artist who is 0-2 in his last two fights against Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz is slated to take on Bulgarian welterweight and fellow UFC vet Jordan Radev (23-4) at BAMMA 7 September 10 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

If all goes well and he walks away from the bout unscathed, six weeks later “Semtex” will hop a plane to Quebec, Canada where he will square off with another fellow UFC vet, Luigi Fioravanti (22-10) at Ringside 12 on October 21 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

(Nate based his decision on money, contractual freedom, and the fact that wrestlers don’t exist in the U.K.)

BAMMA.net breaks it:

We are proud to announce that we have signed one of the top-ranked fighters in the world, former UFC contender Nate Marquardt. We will reveal Marquardt’s next opponent and more details on his highly anticipated BAMMA debut in the coming weeks.

Liam Fisher at BAMMA stated, “As soon as we received word that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt’s suspension we jumped at the chance to sign him. He is a top ranked contender and an asset to any promotion. Words cannot express how excited we are that Marquardt is now fighting under the BAMMA banner”…

(Gus. Fucking. Johnson. Pic: LA Times)

It was with a somewhat heavy heart we brought you news recently that women’s middleweight face-wrecker Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos was playing footsie with WWE, assumedly about joining the company’s stable of “divas.” In light of that, we’re pleased to report that Santos tells Tatame this week that she’ll return to the world of legitimate fighting in August … except … not with Strikeforce. From what we’re able to gather from the written report, Cyborg’s contract has expired and she can’t fight in America until she re-ups with SF. Not sure why, maybe some sort of non-compete clause or because there is just no other place for top-level women’s MMA fighters to ply their trade on this god-forsaken continent.

Instead, she’s nearly set to fight at an event in Brazil, against an opponent to be named later. After the jump, Cyborg’s manager elaborates, plus some notes about the return of former UFC middleweight Ivan Salaverry.

(Props: ZPsBackUp)

Despite their now-routine struggles with making weight, Paul Daley and Ricco Rodriguez turned in impressive performances at BAMMA 5, Saturday night in Manchester, England. In the main event, Japanese welterweight Yuya Shirai was absolutely no match for Daley, as Semtex rocked him twice with jabs in the first frame before a flurry of power punches put Shirai down for good at the 1:46 mark.

Daley is now expected to face Nick Diaz at Strikeforce’s tentative April 9th event in California, although one rumor suggests that Daley’s participation is far from official and the British striker may be holding out for more money. Which makes sense, since he’ll probably have to forfeit about 20% of his purse to Diaz before the fight.

(Photo via MMAFightGirls)

England’s most beloved MMA ring girl — and 2010 Potato Award Winner — Rhian Sugden will be back in action at BAMMA 5, February 26th at Manchester’s MEN Arena. We just came across this photo and felt compelled to share it. You can now proceed with your day.

Previously: Hot Potato: Rhian Sugden

("I don’t need a passport, bro. I’ve got something even better.")

The artist formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver was inexplicably allowed to leave the country this weekend and on Saturday celebrated by defeating Zach Light via first-round rear naked choke at BAMMA 3 in Birmingham, England. Now it seems like he’s having some trouble getting back, according to his Twitter. (Editor’s Note: You go ahead and keep him, England. Seriously.)

Fellow UFC washout (and the first fighter to snatch away the veil to reveal Kimbo Slice’s canliness) Seth Petruzelli also got a win, locking on an arm bar just a minute, seven seconds into his fight against Ryan White. Petruzelli billed himself as "The Kimbo Conqueror" for this engagement, apparently hoping ships bearing news that Slice is now officially washed up had not yet arrived from The New World.

Props to the UG for turning us on to British bombshell Rhian Sugden, a former Page 3 girl who currently holds ring cards for BAMMA. Hailing from Greater Manchester, the 23-year-old blonde model has been featured on the covers of U.K. men’s magazines like Nuts, Zoo, and Loaded, and is also known for her nude monthly calendars [link NSFW]. You can see more of Rhian at her official site and her MySpace page. More lovely photos after the jump…