Carlos Condit vs.
Martin Kampmann

Carlos Condit was the dominant welterweight champion in the WEC for quite some time. Now, he gets thrust into the UFC mid-card with the hope that he doesn’t get destroyed. It’s been said before but you never can tell how these WEC guys will do against UFC competition. Martin Kampmann will provide a good litmus test for him in his UFC debut.

Kampmann had a lot of success in the UFC’s middleweight division. Despite being perceived as a pure striker he displayed great submission skills on several occasions. His only loss came at the hands of one-time title contender Nate Marquardt. In that fight Nate unleashed a barrage of strikes that Martin couldn’t handle. If you go back and look at those two side-by-side it’s obvious Nate had a considerable size advantage. So, it made sense for Kampmann to drop down to welterweight where he can feel a lot more confident being the aggressor.

Condit comes into this fight with a lot of momentum. I’ve only become a fan of the WEC in the past year so I haven’t had the chance to follow his career extensively. We all know that the WEC’s heavier weight classes were not stacked with talent like their UFC counterparts. After all, Zuffa owns both the UFC and WEC. They’re going to put most (if not all) the high-end talent in their premiere organization. Granted, Condit has been considered one of the few that could crossover to fight the big names. While you can’t deny he has talent, it’s debatable if he has the refinement necessary to take on the top 10’s of the welterweight division.

So many of the UFC’s fighters are known for having meticulous game plan’s crafted by the World’s best trainers. Against Hiromitsu Miura, Condit looked aggressive but sloppy. Both fighters were gassed near the end of the fight. Like all fighters, Carlos will need to evolve if he wants to succeed in the UFC. In his case, he’ll need to bring newfound discipline to his game. Having a crowd-pleasing style isn’t going to be enough – just ask Wanderlei Silva.

This fight could be a rude-awakening for Condit. Luckily for him, you gain more from a loss than you do from a win…or so we’re told. Carlos Condit winning would not be a huge upset but it’s likely he needs a learning experience before being able to climb the ranks. Looking at these two on paper they seem pretty even. You just have to assume that Martin is a little bit better prepared for this level of competition. Kampmann was well on way to getting a title shot at 185 and he will look to pick up where he left off at 170.

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