Kampmann Wants to Be the First to Finish Thiago

UFC welterweight Martin Kampmann knows he has a tough test in Paulo Thiago, who he faces at UFC 115 “Liddell vs. Franklin” this Saturday at the GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

“I think he's got a dangerous standup (game),” said Kampmann on the Sherdog Radio Network's “Savage Dog Show” on Wednesday. “He's knocked out (Josh) Koscheck, he knocked out (Mike) Swick. He swings really hard and he's definitely got some power. You've got to respect his punches and he's got a good solid ground game to back it up. You've definitely got to watch out the submissions as well if this bout goes to the ground. He's a well-rounded fighter.”

Kampmann, who's 7-2 in the Octagon since August 2006, said there's few weak areas to exploit in the 29-year-old Thiago, who’s only career loss came to Jon Fitch at UFC 100 last July.

“I can't come in there and worry about one thing,” said the Danish fighter. “I have to worry about his hands. I have to worry about everything…When he swings he likes to fire his big counter left hook, so I've been working on that. He likes D'arce chokes and anaconda chokes and stuff like that so he likes to go for the neck. I've got to watch out for that as well.”

Saturday’s bout will mark Kampmann’s second fight of 2010, as an eye gash suffered in training forced him to pull out of his scheduled bout with Ben Saunders at UFC 111 last March. The 28-year-old fighter estimated that he needed about 30 stitches both inside and outside the cut to close it up. Sitting on the sidelines is nothing new to the Xtreme Couture fighter -- Kampmann has undergone two major surgeries during his tenure with the UFC -- but the welterweight believes this last lapse has presented him with a better opportunity.

“I definitely think Thiago is the bigger win,” said Kampmann. “Saunders is tough too, but Thiago is ranked much higher. He's beaten some much tougher opponents like Swick and Koscheck, so I definitely think Thiago is a better win, but I think at the same time Thiago is a more dangerous opponent. So more risk, more reward, you know?”

Perhaps the greatest reward would come from Kampmann earning a stoppage victory over Brazil's version of Jack Bauer, thanks to Thiago’s highly publicized day job with the Brazilian Elite Special Police Forces (BOPE).

“I want to go in there and have a good performance. I want to go in there and finish him,” said Kampmann. “He hasn't been finished before so I want to finish him off whether it's a knockout, a submission or whatever -- it doesn't matter to me. I don't have it planned out how it's going to happen, but I'm well prepared and I'm going in there to finish it.”

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