Modern Fighting

Thiago Alves def. Matt Hughes – TKO (Strikes) R2
Michael Bisping def. Jason Day – TKO (Strikes) R1
Mike Swick def. Marcus Davis – Unanimous Decision
Thales Leites def. Nathan Marquardt – Split Decision
Fabricio Werdum def. Brandon Vera – TKO (Strikes) R1
Martin Kampmann def. Jorge Rivera – Tapout (Guillotine Choke) R1
Matt Wiman def. Thiago Tavares – KO (Punch) R2
Kevin Burns def. Roan Carneiro – Tapout (Triangle Choke) R2
Luiz Cane def. Jason Lambert – TKO (Strikes) R1
Paul Taylor def. Jess Liaudin – Split Decision
Antoni Hardonk def. Eddie Sanchez – TKO (Strikes) R2

Article by Thomas Gerbasi at UFC.com about Kampmann’s return from injury and his faceoff versus Jorge Rivera at UFC 85 who won his last fight in all of 80 seconds.

Picture this. You’re 25 years old and working at a job that maybe only 20 to 30 people in the world can do at the level you perform at. Things are good, you’re about to get a big promotion and then suddenly you’re told that you’re done. Gone is the promotion, the increased paydays, and to top it off, you can never work at this job again.

Welcome to the world of Martin Kampmann in May of 2007, when the rising middleweight star blew out his left knee, lost a headlining bout against former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 72, and thought that perhaps he would never fight again. Now try to get through your days with that type of albatross around your neck.

“I was definitely concerned that I wouldn’t be able to fight, especially since it was such a big injury and because I had a long time where I felt it wasn’t getting any better,” said Kampmann, who went through two surgeries on the knee. “I felt like it was stagnant, and it was natural to be worried.”

Add to this possibly tragic tale the fact that Kampmann had the world at his feet a year ago, with his future limitless. Entering the UFC in August of 2006, the Aarhus native came to the organization with the reputation as a devastating striker with world-class Muay Thai skills. Yet in the course of his three fights in the Octagon, Kampmann showed he was far from one-dimensional as he submitted Crafton Wallace and Drew McFedries and outpointed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Thales Leites. The main event in Belfast against Franklin might have been his worldwide coming out party, but it wasn’t to be. Not that he was concerned about such matters when sitting on the couch waiting for a green light to start rehabbing his knee.

“It sucks no matter what position you’re in,” said Kampmann, now 26. “But what frustrated me the most was not being able to compete or train. Losing the fights I would have had, that was annoying, but the whole fact that I wouldn’t be able to train or fight was worse.”

And when he was cleared to begin rehab, it wasn’t the intense workouts that he became accustomed to both at home and especially in the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas – it was a tedious process that tested his patience daily.

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