Martin Kampmann (15-2) will make his return to the Octagon for the first time in more than one year when he takes on Jorge Rivera (15-6) at UFC 85 in a middleweight scrap at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7, according to Greg Savage of the Savage Dog Show on Sherdog.com.
The “Hitman” has been out of action lately, recovering from multiple knee surgeries to a repair an injury that he sustained training for a showdown with former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, at UFC 72: “Victory” in June 2007.
He had to pull out of the bout, which “Ace” eventually wound up winning against replacement Yushin Okami via unanimous decision. The win earned Franklin a fight with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva — a bout he went on to lose via technical knockout in round two.
There’s no telling if Kampmann would have earned the same opportunity with a win over Franklin. However, with impressive wins over fighters such as Drew McFedries, Thales Leites and Crafton Wallace inside the Octagon, his stock was certainly on the rise prior to the setback.
He’ll look to regain that form when he takes on “El Conquistador.”
Rivera — a UFC veteran who was also a former contestant on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 4 — is coming off a big knockout win over Kendall Grove at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” earlier this year. He’s also got a technical knockout win over Edwin DeWees and a knockout loss to Terry Martin since his return to the organization.
It’s safe to say that Rivera is consistently inconsistent — he has been unable to string together consecutive wins in eight attempts with the UFC. And if you’re looking for a trend, he’s scheduled (on paper) to lose this next one against Kampmann.
UFC 85 features the light heavyweight showdown between Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as the main event. In addition, heavyweights Brandon Vera and Fabricio Werdum, as well as welterweights Mike Swick and Marcus Davis, are expected to battle it out on European soil.
To check out the most recent rumored UFC 85 fight card click here.
33 Comments »
that’s gonna be a hell of a card.
Solid match…I hope Kampmann comes back with a vengance. I’d like to see him go up against Franklin finally. I’d also like to see him go up against Cote as well.
Good to hear Kampmann will finally be making a return. It’s a damn shame he got injured before fighting Franklin.
Not that I think he answers the Anderson Silva riddle, but at least its some new blood in this decimated division.
No way he answers the silva riddle, his chin doesn’t seem to hold up to well when punched.
You must’ve missed his last fight against Drew McFedries.
im glad the hitman Kampmann is finally returning to the octagon.i hope he gets a win over el coquistador.
then i would like to see him fight the predator P. Cote or the cripler C. Leben or shortfuse E. Herman
The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?
[quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
I think that would be amazing. I’ve always wanted to see that kind of thing in the UFC. A 205 one would be good too.
[quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
excellent idea! your’e right about if a. silva is not in the picture the mws are stacked w/ alot of good but not great fighters. a winner of a gpx tournament might be considederd great. as long as its not franklin. nothing against ace but he cant hang w/ the spider period. i guess thats why you dont have him in your bracket. i would be pulling hard for cote.
The reason the middleweight division looks so crapy is because silva makes it look that way. If rich were still champ we would at least have people that could go passed second round with him. But silvas so well rounded, no not even “well” rounded, phenom rounded that he makes every one look like…..well….shit. But if your in the game long enough you will lose no matter how dominate they may seem. Just ask chuck liddell.
[quote comment="344243"]What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
[/quote]
Unfortunately, the UFC is never going to do a grand prix. Dana has said repeatedly that he hates them and that the guy who wins owes as much to luck (i.e., avoiding injuries) as anything else.
That said, if you were going for the Top 16 fighters, i think you left off a few fighters (IMO). What about Jason MacDonald, or Nate Quarry? just a thought.
I think this is a good match up. Kampmann is coming off a long layoff, and Rivera is coming off an impressive win over Kendall Grove. It could be a good warm up fight for Kampmann before getting back to tougher competition, or it could be a chance for Rivera to pull of another impressive upset. But if Kampmann comes back fighting like he did before the injuries I think it’s gonna be real tough for Rivera to pull out a win.
[quote comment="344291"][quote comment="344243"]What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
[/quote]
Unfortunately, the UFC is never going to do a grand prix. Dana has said repeatedly that he hates them and that the guy who wins owes as much to luck (i.e., avoiding injuries) as anything else.
That said, if you were going for the Top 16 fighters, i think you left off a few fighters (IMO). What about Jason MacDonald, or Nate Quarry? just a thought.[/quote]
YOu are right I totally forgot McDonald and I dont know about Quarry he has only had 1 fight back and has a lot to prove, but you can definetly replace Sakara for McDonald. A 205 or lightweight tournament would be better, but this is the division that needs a tournamentt he most!
Now i kinda wish swick was still at 185, not sure how much he could have done against anderson.
[quote comment="344306"]Now i kinda wish swick was still at 185, not sure how much he could have done against anderson.[/quote]
swick would get KOed. he just wasnt strong enough for 185.
he could barely handle burkman at 170.
[quote comment="344291"][quote comment="344243"]What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
[/quote]
Unfortunately, the UFC is never going to do a grand prix. Dana has said repeatedly that he hates them and that the guy who wins owes as much to luck (i.e., avoiding injuries) as anything else.
That said, if you were going for the Top 16 fighters, i think you left off a few fighters (IMO). What about Jason MacDonald, or Nate Quarry? just a thought.[/quote]
Why would you put in Kendall Grove when he just got destroyed by Jorge. If anything, give Jorge that spot. he’s also beaten Travis Lutter
Wow What A Blockbuster announcement of a match…oh wait…I don’t care about either of these chumps…hopefully they run into each other and knock each other out!
[quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
How come Franklin gets a bid in your tournament, but Henderson doesn’t? Henderson only lost to Silva one time, and he actually won a round against him?
And who the F is Rousimar Palhares? Besides the fact that he is fighting Ivan Salaverry in May? Where’s J-Mac?
Also, Bracket 1 looks stacked compared to Bracket 2, not that it matters, but I’m just sharing the thoughts that came to mind.
PS Alesio Sakara is a bum
Don’t forget UFC 85 has 5 MW matches. If the favorites win most of those matches the division could start clearing up quite a bit. If Bisbing, Quarry and McDonald start stringing together wins you could have some great matches with the top contenders coming up.
[quote comment="344362"]Wow What A Blockbuster announcement of a match…oh wait…I don’t care about either of these chumps…hopefully they run into each other and knock each other out![/quote]
actually ithink kampan has alot of upside. no i dont think he could beat silva now, but he can hang w/ everyone else. his fight w/mcfedries was pretty decent. he took alot of hard shots and pulled off a sweet submission. a fight w/ him and leben or cote would be a great match-up
Make that UFC 83.
I hope Bisping starts to string together some losses.
[quote comment="344385"][quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
How come Franklin gets a bid in your tournament, but Henderson doesn’t? Henderson only lost to Silva one time, and he actually won a round against him?
And who the F is Rousimar Palhares? Besides the fact that he is fighting Ivan Salaverry in May? Where’s J-Mac?
Also, Bracket 1 looks stacked compared to Bracket 2, not that it matters, but I’m just sharing the thoughts that came to mind.
PS Alesio Sakara is a bum[/quote]
Henderson wouldnt be in the tournament because I expect him to move back up to 205 lb. Only way I see Hendo staying at 185 lb is to fight Franklin or if wanderlei wanted to move down to fight him. Other than that I see him going back up to 205 lb.
You will find out soon enough about Rusimar my friend. I did it really fast and forgot a few names. Replace Sakara with J-mac. Henderson doesnt get a bid because he like Silva is “above” this tournament. If Hendo entered he would be a heavy Favorite, without Hendo its anyones game…and thats the point, to find out wich one of these fighters can step up and win it all. Have this tournament over the course of 3 pay perviews, 1 every 3 months. They could really market the hell out of the winner in a fight against Silva. Right now trying to find an opponent for him is too tough.
I like that tournament except i’d take out Alessio Sakara and Rousimar Palhares and add Jason Macdonald and probably Jorge Rivera
[quote comment="344191"]that’s gonna be a hell of a card.[/quote]
i’m sorry but liddell and rua fight is off. that and the swick vs davis fight r the only ones i like. rivera should get a harder fight. like a submission fighter 2 see if he has gotten better at the ground game. and vera vs werdum i didn’t like werdum in the arlovski fight but i didn’t like arlovski either but arlovski already proved himself werdum has a win over the WAY OVER-RATED gonzaga big deal. i think arlovski vs vera. let vs see the healthy arlovski and i bet he moves 2 light heavywieght.
[quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
i’d take out palhares, tanner and sakara . and bring up paulo filho from the wec. so we can see him and his talent that they have bragging about on the wec. jason mcdonald and see if GSP would like to move up and give it a try.
could be fight of the night …both guys are real crowd pleasers
[quote comment="344786"][quote comment="344385"][quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
Pretty cool if UFC would ever do it (NEVER). I would change a couple out. Take out Sakara, Palhares, and Drew McFedries. Replace them with Henderson, Alan Belcher, and Jason McDonald.
That would be perfect.
[quote comment="344786"][quote comment="344385"][quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
How come Franklin gets a bid in your tournament, but Henderson doesn’t? Henderson only lost to Silva one time, and he actually won a round against him?
And who the F is Rousimar Palhares? Besides the fact that he is fighting Ivan Salaverry in May? Where’s J-Mac?
Also, Bracket 1 looks stacked compared to Bracket 2, not that it matters, but I’m just sharing the thoughts that came to mind.
PS Alesio Sakara is a bum[/quote]
Henderson wouldnt be in the tournament because I expect him to move back up to 205 lb. Only way I see Hendo staying at 185 lb is to fight Franklin or if wanderlei wanted to move down to fight him. Other than that I see him going back up to 205 lb.
You will find out soon enough about Rusimar my friend. I did it really fast and forgot a few names. Replace Sakara with J-mac. Henderson doesnt get a bid because he like Silva is “above” this tournament. If Hendo entered he would be a heavy Favorite, without Hendo its anyones game…and thats the point, to find out wich one of these fighters can step up and win it all. Have this tournament over the course of 3 pay perviews, 1 every 3 months. They could really market the hell out of the winner in a fight against Silva. Right now trying to find an opponent for him is too tough.[/quote]
Ahhh, I see John. I think that that may be necessary soon, but not at the current moment. Right now Yushin Okami DESERVES a title shot. After that though, its really up in the air and anything is possible.
[quote comment="345996"][quote comment="344786"][quote comment="344385"][quote comment="344243"]The middleweight division isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be. The problem is Silva and Henderson are in a class above the rest. Whats good about the division is that it has depth. The problem right now is there is no clear cutt #1 contender thats marketable to match Silva up against.
What better way to clear up this division and build up a marketable #1 contender, than to have the 1st “modern day” UFC middleweight Grand Prix? 16 fighters over the course of three pay per view events. By the time its all said and done, the UFC would have built themselves a marketable #1 contender. Just to give u a picture of the possabilities. heres my tournament:
Bracket #1:
Rich Franklin vs. Allesio Sakara
Ed Herman vs. Ricardo Almeida
Thales Leites vs. Chris Leben
Martin Kampman vs. Micheal bisping
Bracket #2:
Yushin Okami vs. Drew McFedries
Patrik Cote vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Marquardt vs. Kendall Grove
Evan Tanner vs. Rousimar Palhares
This tournament can really build up a marketable contender to fight Silva. Anyone of these fighters could win. It would be really exciting for a boring division (excluding Hendo and Silva)
What do u guys think?[/quote]
How come Franklin gets a bid in your tournament, but Henderson doesn’t? Henderson only lost to Silva one time, and he actually won a round against him?
And who the F is Rousimar Palhares? Besides the fact that he is fighting Ivan Salaverry in May? Where’s J-Mac?
Also, Bracket 1 looks stacked compared to Bracket 2, not that it matters, but I’m just sharing the thoughts that came to mind.
PS Alesio Sakara is a bum[/quote]
Henderson wouldnt be in the tournament because I expect him to move back up to 205 lb. Only way I see Hendo staying at 185 lb is to fight Franklin or if wanderlei wanted to move down to fight him. Other than that I see him going back up to 205 lb.
You will find out soon enough about Rusimar my friend. I did it really fast and forgot a few names. Replace Sakara with J-mac. Henderson doesnt get a bid because he like Silva is “above” this tournament. If Hendo entered he would be a heavy Favorite, without Hendo its anyones game…and thats the point, to find out wich one of these fighters can step up and win it all. Have this tournament over the course of 3 pay perviews, 1 every 3 months. They could really market the hell out of the winner in a fight against Silva. Right now trying to find an opponent for him is too tough.[/quote]
Ahhh, I see John. I think that that may be necessary soon, but not at the current moment. Right now Yushin Okami DESERVES a title shot. After that though, its really up in the air and anything is possible.[/quote]
anoyher fighter that was overlooked was Kalib Starnes.
i would take k.grove, a.sakara and r.palhares out,and i would replace them with Starnes,N.Quarry and bring back Ruthless Robbie Lawler.
WAAAARR Kampmann
I forgot all about McDonald, Alan Belcher, Starnes is also a good one. Robbie Lawler is signed to other organization…so 4get about him. There is no point in including Filho in my imaginary tournament because the point of the tournament is too find Anderson Silva an opponent. Silva and Filho have already said that they wont fight each other, so what would be the point of having Filho take place in this tournament.