Mike Swick's Injury May Be a Blessing In Disguise for Martin Kampmann

Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann is riding a two-fight win streak and was poised to fight Mike Swick to determine the next No. 1 contender for Georges St. Pierre's crown.

However, an injury suffered by Swick forced him from this potentially exciting match up. Swick was replaced by popular U.K. fighter Paul "Semtex" Daley.

Daley is a highly skilled fighter with a record of 21-8-2, but he is far from being considered a potential contender. If Kampmann takes this fight, there is a slim-to-none chance that he will receive the title shot.

"I don't expect it to be a No. 1 contendership fight anymore. Daley's a tough guy but he don't have the same recognition as Swick does.

"I still think that beating Daley would be great, but Swick's got the bigger name, so it's really up to the UFC. I don't think it's the same contendership status as before."

Even Kampmann believes that his quest for the title has been pushed back a few steps by Swick's injury. Understandably so, Kampmann is a bit irritated by the recent events.

Maybe this all transpired in Kampmann's favor, a blessing in disguise in other words.

Across the globe, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, is considered the best in the welterweight division. He is also considered in the top five of most P4P lists and many believe that he will dominate the weight class for years to come.

Before Swick's injury, a majority of the fight fans have said the winner between Swick and Kampmann didn't stand a chance.

Now that may be a bit of a stretch, but St. Pierre's recent performances could easily back that statement up. Even though Kampmann is skilled in most facets of the sport, he is still years behind the elite level of St. Pierre.

Kampmann's takedown defense is superb, yet he hasn't sprawled against a wrestler with St. Pierre's skill and determination.

His striking is technically sound with some minor holes in his defense, which is something St. Pierre could easily counter to end the fight.

"The Hitman's" ground game is considerably underrated, but St. Pierre made world-class Jiu Jitsu artist B.J. Penn look amateurish at best.

Although this is MMA and anything can happen, it's clear that Kampmann still needs some time before facing off with the welterweight boss. A fight with Daley is the first step in this process.

A win still keeps him afloat in the minuscule sea of contenders while earning him more experience inside the cage. It could possibly set a future No. 1 contender match with the winner between Frank Trigg and Josh Koscheck, who happen to fight at UFC 103 as well.

Georges St. Pierre will more than likely defend his belt in that time frame. Who it is against doesn't really matter if St. Pierre continues his run of dominance.

The end result will most likely be the same, but it will leave another tape that Kampmann can observe in search of St. Pierre's minor, barely visible flaws.

Of course, this speculative game plan is frivolous if Kampmann is unable to get past Daley. A loss would surely blast Kampmann out of the top ten and back into the world of preliminary action.