Top middleweights Nate Marquardt (26-8-2) and Martin Kampmann (16-2) could throw some leather at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on September 6.
MMAmania.com can confirm that the fighters have been offered the match up; however, bout agreements have not been signed at this time.
Marquardt is coming off a bizarre split decision loss to Thales Leites at UFC 85: “Bedlam” back in June in which he was deducted two points for fouls. It was a competitive fight that he clearly would have won if the infractions — one of which was questionable — were not enforced.
The former number one 185-pound contender called for an immediate rematch after the bout; however, the Brazilian was not interested.
Kampmann rebounded from a 15-month layoff because of major knee surgery to stop Jorge Rivera via submission (guillotine choke) on the same London card as Marquardt. He is on a blistering nine-fight win streak and is undefeated inside the Octagon (4-0).
“The Hitman” was on the short list of title contenders prior to his injury. And now that he is back in the mix, a win over a fighter the caliber of Marquardt would once again put him right near the top.
There are still some lingering questions about the health of his knee, as well as whether or not Kampmann is big enough to compete at middleweight — he is on the smaller side compared to the rest of the field at 185 pounds. On the flip side, Marquardt is among the division’s largest fighters.
Size and health could play a major role in this one if indeed it is made official. We shall see.
To check out the latest UFC 88 card and rumors click here.
60 Comments »
good match up
This is a great match-up..Kampmann has been impressive thus far, and Marquardt is a true test to see where he is heading..
Im looking forward to this fight.
By the way guys, this is for all you guys thinking fighters don’t get paid enough. I posted this a few months ago, and it was well received by the level headed guys. those of you new to the site, think about it…Huerta signed his contract.
.
this is for all you guys that are going to bitch when mania posts fighter salaries this week. There is no gun to any of these guys heads when they sign their contract. I’m sure most of you have eaten at mcdonalds or shopped at wal mart right? do you bitch for those poor slobs making minimum wage? Fact is, these professional athletes train for free and most get paid to train. As long as they are training, they lure guys like us into the gym. Second, their sponser money is not factored into their salaries. Do you notice that the only two guys openly complaining are two of the highest paid guys.
If someone came up to me and said “we will train you at greg jacksons camp for nothing, the UFC will sign you to a 15k/15k show/win contract for 3 fights and you’ll get one sponser,” I’d say where do I sign!! Then you win a fight and mmamania.com offers you 10k to show their website, and condom depot gives another 10k for your shorts. Then I win 2 more fights. The year is up, I’ve made 150-200k, doing something I love. Now I’m riding a 3 fight win streak and I’m offered 50/50 or maybe more. & years later I’m dating a old, ugly porn star with a vagina the size of a watermelon and bitching about money…NOPE, I’m the luckiest guy in the world, getting paid to train and making a great living doing something that comes natural to all of us!! Kicking ass!
So next time you guys want to complain about the guy who saved the sport, just remember it’s a business, and you have no clue what he does behind the scenes. I remember when Matt Hughes beat Royce, his base pay was like 75k…but Dana gave him a million dollar bonus after the fight in the locker room. Instead of complaining about guys making hundreds of thousands of dollars, complain about the companies whose employees aren’t even making 25k and we’re supporting because they are on welfare!
from the conversation the other day (re:?’s for Mania). Mania, would love to know a little of your biography! Age, kids, do you train martial arts, when did you start the site and what inspired it? Do you rarely post, or are you one of the regulars under a different name? Give us the background! And by the way, I love the site, so thanks and props to you. Keep up the good work.
good one chef was thinking that too, but actually stuck to my own rules. Have to lead by example is what I was always taught!
Besides thinking that Huerta has made a strategic mistake with his assertations in the recent Fight! magazine article, I’m surprised that the UFC doesn’t sometimes have a better “feel” for these situations so that they can “head them off at the pass” before they become part of a magazine article. The Huerta article overall is a good one. It seems that problems like the Huerta one could easily be avoided. Personally, I think that Dana is spread too thin. He is now “in over his head”. They need to have someone to act as more of a liason to the fighters. Maybe the UFC should hire 5 or 6 “fighter reps” that are assigned 25 - 30 fighters each? Their jobs would be to look after the fighters and keep lines of communication open. With Lorenzo Fertiita wanting to go global, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t “smooth things over” with Huerta. I’d really like to hear Lorenzo Fertitta’s and Dana’s comments on the Huerta situation.
it’s called a union
True. But I would assume that the UFC wouldn’t want a union so why would they not circumvent unionization by taking a few steps which in the big picture would be “small potatoes” financially? I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC did make a few adjustments in this area in light of the Huerta article. It is my understanding that the Fertitta’s are well known for treating their Station Casino employees well.
here’s the reality of it, if all these guys were so unhappy, they would have formed a union by no. fact is, the majority of the fighters a perfectly happy with their current situation. It’s simple, fight, win, build your name up and get paid!
Preach on Kevin!!!
Kevin:
I was the only one that disagreed with you, everyone was licking your balls lol.
I’m still disagreeing with you
Excellent matchup. I’ve wanted to see these two fighters lock up ever since Kampmann came back from injiury.
If this is true, it would be one of the better fights on the UFc 88 fight card. Kampman is a very skilled ANIMAL. Marquardt, I dont like ever since he repeatedly BLASTED my boy, Leites with illegal shots. THales was completely Rocked and Nate still couldnt put him away. iMO Kampan would be one of Anderson’s toughest challenges, much more challenging then a one dimensional Patrik Cote, thats for sure.
I really hope that this fight happens. If and when Kampman beats MNarquardt, I can not imagine him needing one more win to get a shot at Silva.
“one of the better fights on UFC 88″?
This is possibly the BEST fight on the card.
Thiago Tavares vs Kurt Pellegrino is the only fight that has potential to be more exciting AND evenly matched. Franlin/Hamill is the only other fight that comes in a close third behind these two fights.
VM: thats what I think as well, but I have been blasting the UFC 88 card and did not wantto come off like a hater!
Check this out, you will enjoy:
With all the p4p discussions flying about these days, I thought I’d take a little time to investigate one of the most important factors in evaluating the top candidates: strength of opposition.
Based on a lot of the opinions I’ve seen on here, I think people will be very surprised as to who has actually faced the tougher opposition.
Everyone has their opinions, of course, but I have based this purely on objective criteria.
So, without any further ado, here are your top 4 in order:
1. BJ Penn
Opponent win rate: 78%
Opponent record: 371-103
Opponent wins (avg): 20.6
Opponent losses (avg): 5.7
# of Opponents faced w/o a winning record: 1
2. Georges St. Pierre
Opponent win rate: 77%
Opponent record: 391-116
Opponent wins (avg): 21.7
Opponent losses (avg): 6.4
# of Opponents faced w/o a winning record: 0
3. Anderson Silva
Opponent win rate: 68%
Opponent record: 424-198
Opponent wins (avg): 16.3
Opponent losses (avg): 7.6
# of Opponents faced w/o a winning record: 7
4. Fedor Emelienanko
Opponent win rate: 66%
Opponent record: 467-241
Opponent wins (avg): 16.1
Opponent losses (avg): 8.3
# of Opponents faced w/o a winning record: 6
Also, Wanderlei is training Damien Maia, and will be cornering him at UFC 87
I just read all the stuff on sherdog john. was going to tell everyone too, lol
edit:
I didn’t realize you were taking the objective look, or did you also start the thread on sherdog?
forget it, you cut and pasted, my bad!
NO, I didnt start the thread. Thats not the best p4p list, the guy who created it just said its the strongest strength of schedule (opponent) list. I dont post on Sherdog, I just check it out on slow news days.
Ohh. I thought you took the time to compile that list.
Here’s what I think. Numbers do NOT explain MMA. If that was the case, there would NEVER be an upset, but of course, there are.
Ranking GSP ahead of Anderson Silva and Fedor is LAUGHABLE!!!!!!!!!!
Also, that list does not factor in the fighters actual record, only thier opponents. So in other words, according to that list, it does not matter whether you win or lose your fights, you just have to fight tough competition. So if I hopped into the cage and fought and lost to Rashad Evans, Fedor, Urijah Faber, and Miguel Torres - then I would be ranked as the #1 lb for lb fighter on that list because these oppoenents have a near perfect record. However, my record would be 0-4.
it’s a good list mike, same as college footbal and basketball. strength of schedule is a big part of rankings! Yes fedor is the top hw in the world, but his opponents haven’t been as dominant as Bj’s. it’s not saying bj could beat fedor!
Lol half of their opponents win records come from Hughes for Penn and GSP. Don’t kid yourselves so because Hughes has more wins and less losses than Cro Cop, Cro Cop is the easier of the opponents? Stop stealing your news from other sites John give the sites credit or something
yeah and since pride cro cop has been very impressive right?
I know you get my point though Kevin, Cro Cop has not been great since moving to the UFC but niether has Hughes since losing to GSP. To be honest and I’m a huge Hughes fan I just want to be serious here. When Cro Cop fought Fedor would you compare it to GSP fighting Hughes. I don’t think that many people would and Hughes has a huge win record. What if you fought someone like Jeremy Horn who I like as a fighter but is over the hill respectively. Well you would have a pretty wacked out record of win losses there. Opponents Win/Loss record really doesn’t do a whole lot to compare the P4P fighters. As a matter of fact I know many of the people on this site don’t think MMAmath works so if thats they case why would you try to use the strength of schedule when its similar to MMAmath.
This just made 88 that much better if it goes down. I agree Kapmann would probably be Anderson’s toughest fight at 185. That dude has an iron jaw. He got hit so many times by Mcfedries and just kept coming. I was very impressed. Is there any way Anderson hits harder than Mcfedries or is he just way more accurate?
I like Kampman but this guy almost got killed by Drew McFederies. Kampman does not hit that hard but can take a punch. He is well rounded but packed with average power, believe me. And I see Marquardt puts him away no problem.
What are you talking about? Martin is unbeaten in the UFC. He defeated McFedries in the first round. Are you sure you saw the fight and know the correct outcome????
I didn’t say he lose, but Mcfed was killing him then lost by an Anaconda choke. If they fight again, it will be different.
actually that move is called an arm triangle, very different then an anaconda choke!
It’s a actually called the Machida choke.
hahahahahahaha!
Kampmann is the Danish Thai boxing champ and he has serious power. McFedries was getting the better of the standup so instead of standing there like a tool and risking getting ko’d he took him down and handled him, that’s what intelligent fighters do. Other fighters like Jorge Gurgel and even Hendo should take notes. Nate’s overrated, he’s got great ground skills but tap that chin and it’s done.
Agree 100%
Marquardt is boring too. I hope Kampmann puts him to sleep before Marquardt has a chance to put everyone watching to sleep.
Watch any of his fights in Pancrase and you will feel like a fool. Comment almost as lame and incorrect as Machida being a boring fighter. Epic failure.
Tap that chin? Overrated?? Did he go out after getting “tapped” by Leitas?? Epic failure. Watch any of his Pancrase fights OR his last fight, you’ll make sure to check your stats before making a comment next time. And yeah, Nate was beating Leitas’ concussed ass for three rounds and got screwed by Herb Dean with his 2nd point-deduction.
I agree john…I’ve been a huge Kampmann fan since he came to the UFC. I think he’s got the skills to frustrate Silva if he can execute a solid gameplan. Training at Xtreme Couture should ensure that. I think if he beats Nate that should be enough to get him a title shot or at least a #1 contenders match with Okami or maybe Bisping if he beats Leben. I like Nate but he had his chance against Silva and it’s time for a fresh face with heavy hands, solid technical striking, and a very competent ground game.
Good match
Most definitely. This is a fantastic matchup. Personally, I think that the winner of this fight puts themselves in line for a #1 contender fight with Dan Henderson, presuming that he beats the BJJ wizard Rusimar Pahlares.
Who do you guys have as the favorite to win this fight? I think that Nate will be the opening favorite. I am wondering where the majority of the money would be going, hence changing the odds. If either of these fighters is a +150 dog, they would be a good bet. I see this as a very even match. I love it.
The event is only 5 weeks away meaning that neither fighter would have time to complete a full training camp.
I just got my work laptop all configured yesterday so that I can work from home when need be. My wife is having surgery today, so I am working from hom today and Monday at the least, i will most likely do so on Tuesday as well. Right now, I’m sitting up in my bed, with my dog relaxing right next to me, watching ESPN First Take, eating Lucky Charms and have a packed bowl sitting next to me ready to go. MAN, I love my job. LOL
Bisping will get the #1 spot, or a fight w/ Hendo to line it up, b/c f his image. There really should have been a Marquardt/Leitas rematch, Herb Dean really screwed that one up. I hope to see Marquardt win this and move onto a title shot but Kampmann is the best possible opponent for him. I actually thought the other day if this one would be lined up, considering who Marquardt should fight next.
With the MW rack dwindling due to Silvas sweep through the whole thing (Kampmann, Cote, Bisping left for a shot), I would love to see Marquardt (a huge MW btw) move up a weight class and join the talent there.
John, how much for a one week stay? you own the whole house, it looks beautiful!
yeah, my father bought the property back in 92. My cousins is a big time architect in Italy and he drew up the plans… The Island is so small and poor that at the time he bought he property, the Island wasnt even on a lot of world maps. Its an 8 bedroom, 4 bathroom house split into apartments. 2 stories, the bottom story has 2 bedrooms that share a bathroom and another 2 bedrooms that share a bathroom….same with the top floor. The 55 ft veranda is my favorite part. When my father ghad the house built, it only cost him about $40,000 which is an absolute steal because the house is worth over a million today. My father passed away last July and left me the house.
What do u want to rent? a room for you and your wife? 2 rooms (with bathroom)? An entire floor? THe whole house?
just me and my wife, not worth taking my son to such a romantic spot
Be careful! Romantic spots might lead to another child! lol
Wow. That’s a serious house/mansion by the sounds of it.
Kev: I posted a response, but its in moderation. If its not posted in an hour I will re-write it
I could have sworn I read something about Kampmann re-injuring his knee after the Rivera fight and being out for a while again.
Leites is a bitch. If your not “interested” in a fight you should get like a pay deduct.
Fantastic matchup. Marquardt is the bigger stronger fighter. Both are excellent on the ground and are very good strikers. Got to go with Marquardt by unanimous decision.
Hmm.. finally a thinker in the MW division.
I couldn’t honestly project a for sure win for either guy.
Kampman present an interesting challange to Nate.
I don’t think Nate will handle Martin on the ground the way he would want to and Kampmann can Kickbox with a lot of talent out there.
Kamp has proved that he can take a beating and a half and come back and finish a fight.
Hey Joe Silva… more of these in the middleweight ranks please.
Ohhh I can’t wait for this fight to happen, Marquardt all the way !!!
This sucks, Joe Silva is Parisyaning Martin hard. He’s a title challenger after Okami. He should have been ahead of Cote IMO. Nate “illegal head spike” Marquardt should be at the bottom of the MW division.
namenotrequired, sorry to tell you Nate is going to own Martin… Martin has only went up against guys who know how to punch, none had any ground game. Why should Martin get a title shot after only beating Drew McFedderies and Jorge Rivera. Nate beat Thales Leites just like Martin did, but Nate got a point deducted with out a warning. Kind of bull shit. But Nate the great is going to put Martin asleep.
great fight wish it were on ufc 90
Really good matchup. I hope Kampman wins, but I think Nate will.
i hope kampman gets the win here. as long as he makes sure he doesn’t get piledrived on his head he will be fine
Been waiting for this one..definately FOTN!!! I think Marquardt’s superior wrestling skills will overcome Kampmann’s attacks.
As others said and I agree that this fight is pure fight of the night material.
Kampmann for the decision.
A lot of people seem to think that Kampman is the toughest fight for Silva at 185. I’ll agree that Kampman has some of the best jits in the middleweight division and some solid stand up (but was definatley getting cracked by McFedries), but I don’t think he has the wrestling abbilities to put it all togeather. I don’t think he can take Anderson down and if you stand in front of Silva it’s only a matter of time. Dan Henderson is the only guy with the tools to beat Silva at 185 and he can’t stick to a game plan.
I still believe marquardt has the tools to beat silva. But like everyone else the pressure to fight the spider throws their fight off. Nate is a talented guy with big upside I hope he can work his way back. I dont think he will have much trouble with kampmann
this is a good machup i think that nate is on a nother level now though still not as good as silva though, i think if he wins he should get a nother title shot you never know upsets happin all the time.