Some thoughts while I recover from my TUFN 18 hangover...

- I re-watched the Condit-Kampmann fight this morning and it is a great fight. It could easily be a fight of the year candidate. I think the judges made the right call, well except Cecil Peoples. Shocker!

- Kampmann looks so much smaller at welterweight then middleweight. It is kind of a miracle he ever fought at 185lbs.

- Judges need to reward fighters who sacrifice position to go for submissions. Of course the submission attempts must be legitimate, but I feel that the judges are not taking these facts into consideration when they score a bout. 

- What was with all the Chuck Liddell talk. I understand that the other major fighters on the UFC 97 card don't speak English very well and Spike needed to promote their new show, but come on. Liddell is 1-3 in his past four fights, and isn’t getting any younger. It may be prudent for the UFC to prepare for L.A.C. (life after Chuck).

- In the first round Ryan Bader was fantastic and exciting, let’s just look at what Bader did in the first three minutes: slam, side control, guard, crucifix, armbar. Then the second round happened and it was same old boring Bader.

- I know now why Brandon Vera struggled a while back. He didn’t use the “wax-on, wax-off “training regime. To order the “wax-on, wax-off” training package call 1-800-556-7892. For those that call within the next thirty minutes you will get The Next Karate Kid signed by Hilary Swank!

- How in the hell did all three judges score the Griffin-dos Anjos bout 30-27? Rafael dos Anjos clearly won that first round with better striking and an excellent submission attempt. Griffin was trapped in that leg lock for what felt like 3 minutes. 

- Jay Cutler likes the UFC but he’s not a big fan of Josh McDaniels.

- ”Quizno’s mmm mmm mmm mmm good.” ~ Mike Goldberg

- Excellent dedication to Charles 'Mask' Lewis.

- Cole Miller went all Junie Browning on Junie Browning. Don't get me wrong I thought it was hilarious calling Junie out and walking around the Octagon with his brown belt, but it was a little Juniesque. Oh well, he probably deserved it. 

- Weak showing by Junie, the kid didn't look motivated to fight at all. He got caught in a basic submission attempt. Now the question is, if he keeps sucking does the UFC ever cut him?

The UFC's first event in Tennessee didn't quite go according to script. The night was suppose to be a red carpet affair for former WEC welterweight champion, Carlos Condit. Instead he ran into a Danish wall named Martin Kampmann.

Kampmann's strategy was to use the clinch to transition to takedowns then utilize his jiu-jitsu. In the first minute Kampmann secured a tight guillotine. Condit demonstrated his own grappling skills by escaping the submission. Condit then transitioned to a dominant position, which Kampmann countered. With Kampmann secure in Condit's guard Martin gave up position to go for a heel lock. Once again Condit escaped landing an elbow which cut Kampmann. The first round was fairly one sided until Condit landed a knee flush to Kampmann's temple. The last minute was an exchange of punches with Martin securing a takedown in the last fifteen seconds. The round was extremely close.

Kampmann's strategy remained the same for the second round. Striking was used to set up the clinch, which was followed by takedowns. The only adjustment was less submission attempts on Martin's behalf. Instead Kampmann was content to sit in Condit's guard and ground-and-pound. Condit rallied in the middle of the round with his own guillotine attempt. The second round was extremely close as well.

The third round was a repeat of the second, except Condit was less effective guard. Kampmann kept the pressure on Condit with enough transitions and ground-and-pound to decisively secure the third round.

In the end it was a split decision with Martin Kampmann pulling out the victory.

Ryan Bader, winner of season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, also won his first bout since the reality show finale against Carmel Marrero.

Bader looked strong in the first round, securing a takedown from a powerful slam, which he then transitioned into side control, a crucifix then an armbar attempt. The first round was the most impressive display by Bader to date. Over the next two rounds Ryan wore down Marrero with superior wrestling.

Tyson Griffin and Rafael dos Anjos engaged in a highly entertaining bout. Dos Anjos initially got the better of Griffin, but after a twisting leg compression dos Anjos was largely quite. Griffin responded from the submission attempt with superior striking. There was still an oddity with the judges score cards, considering all three had Griffin winning the first round. Odd due to how deep dos Anjos' leg lock was.

In the first bout of the evening Cole Miller faced off against the infamous Junie Browning. Browning was the controversial fighter from the eight season of The Ultimate Fighter. These two lightweights had almost come to blows at the weigh in and the war of words that started with Junie challenging the legitimacy of Miller's Jiu-Jitsu brown belt continued in the Octagon.

Miller, also an Ultimate Fighter alum, got the better of Browning in every aspect. After landing a big right Miller took Browning down and secured a guillotine choke. As Browning tapped out Miller stood up and screamed 'whose overrated now?' in reference to Browning's previous trash talk. Miller immediately went to his corner to drape his brown belt around his body. During the post fight Miller wore a tribute shirt to recently deceased Tapout founder, Charles 'Mask' Lewis.

The UFC followed the fight with their own tribute to the Tapout founder.

At the weigh-ins one fighter disclosed the use of Adderall and wasn't allowed to fight. Gleison Tibau and Jeremy Stephens both came in over weight and ended up fighting at a catchweight of 158lbs. 

Full results:

This Wednesday welterweight standout and former WEC champion Carlos Condit (22-4) will make his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann (14-2).

Many have concluded that Condit, a top-ten welterweight, will easily dispatch his Danish opponent. For a debut fight in the UFC Condit could have drawn an easier opponent. 

Martin Kampmann was a top middleweight prospect for the UFC until he tore his ACL. Since the injury Martin is 2-1, and has dropped to welterweight, winning his debut bout against Alexandre Barros. Kampmann's only losses at 185lbs. came against middleweight behemoth Nate Marquardt and Andrei Semenov. The latter loss was due to a cut.  

Martin Kampmann defeated current #1 middleweight contender Thales Leites via unanimous decision. Could Kampmann pull off another victory against a top-ten welterweight? 

Kampmann posses a well balanced repertoire of skills; his striking is solid, his submission game is sound and he posses the ability to change levels and skill sets when presented with adversity. His bout against Drew McFedries is one of the best examples of true mixed martial arts. In their fight McFedries was getting the better of the stand up, while Kampmann was landing clean punches he couldn't match the power of the stronger McFedries. Kampmann realized this and took the fight to the ground with a simple sweep. From their he set up an arm triangle by transition from side control to mount and won a bout he was losing.

[Note: I often to point to this bout as an example of what it really takes to compete at a high level in MMA]

Kampmann's transition to welterweight was a drastic change. For the first time Kampmann was competing at an equal playing field with his opponents. No longer the small crafty middleweight Kampmann now faces a fighter where he will have the size advantage. While Condit is the taller fighter, at 6'3" to Kampmann's 6'0", Martin will have more girth. In Condit's last title fight for the WEC, he defeated Hiromitsu Miura, but that bout was not a cakewalk. In fact Miura used his Judo throws to great effect. However in hindsight,  Miura's reluctance to employ ground-and-pound, for fear of submissions, may have lost him the fight. 

Condit is also making the transition from big fish in a small pond, to a fish among sharks in an ocean. The UFC welterweight division is easily the deepest division in the entire sport, just consider the fact that Condit is now paired against someone who once was a top middleweight prospect.

Condit does posses top level Jiu-Jistu. Over half of his victories come via decision. Yet three of Condit's, four loses also come from submission, so perhaps Kampmann could find success on the ground. Condit does not posses tremendous striking power or size for a welterweight.

Yet despite the small pond that Condit comes from, he is ranked in the top ten of the division. Part of Condit's rise up the welterweight rankings came from his eight fight win streak, including five straight victories in the WEC welterweight division, a division tailored made for Condit. Perhaps Condit is an overvalued commodity, after all the odds makers have placed Carlos as the underdog at +105 and Kampmann as the favorite at -135.  

The corpse of the WEC's welterweight division isn't even cold and it's champion already has a matched scheduled in the UFC. MMAWeekly is reporting that WEC welterweight champion, Carlos Condit, will fight Martin Kampmann at the UFC Fight Night in April.

Martin Kampmann was a middleweight in the UFC and just recently made his debut at welterweight at UFC 93. 

Once Carlos Condit moves to the UFC, then the promotion will contain nine of the ten top welterweight fighters. Only Jake Shields of EliteXC would remain outside the UFC.

[Updated for correction: WKR initially reported this was Martin Kampmann's debut at 170lbs. It is in fact his second fight at welterweight]